WHAT  TO  Do,  AND  WHY  ; 

EACH  MAN  FOR  HIS  PROPER  WORK: 

DESCRIBING 

SEVENTY-FIYE  TRADES  AND  PROFESSIONS, 

AND  THE 

TALENTS  AND  TEMPERAMENTS  REQUIRED  FOR  EACH. 
BY    NELSON    SIZER. 

I 

He  has  chosen  the  right  PURSUIT  who  has  learned  what  he  can  do  best,  to 
serve  mankind,  himself,  and  his  God. 

ITo  is  best  EDUCATED  who  hat?  learned  how  to  use  with  facility  and  effect  every 
faculty  of  his  mind,  and  all  the  powers  of  his  body. 


NEW  YORK: 

MASON,  BAKER  &  PRATT, 

142    &    144    GRAND    STREET. 

1872. 


HF5 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872, 

BY    NELSON    SIZER, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  in  Washington. 


JOHN  KENT, 

STEBEOTYPKB  AND  ELECTROTYPIB, 
13  FBANKFOBT  ST.,  N.  Y. 


TO 

HENRY   WARD    BEECHER, 

THE  FEABLESS  ADVOCATE  OP  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS   FREEDOM  ; 
THE  EARNEST  DEFENDER  OF  PROGRESSIVE  THOUGHT, 

AfcIKE  IN  SCIENCE,  MORALS,  AND  RELIGION; 
WHO  ADOPTED  PHRENOLOGY  AS  THE  BEST  ANALYSIS  OF  MIND, 
WHEN  IT  WAS  "  EVERYWHERE  SPOKEN  AGAINST  ; "  AND  WHO, 
FOR  A  THIRD   OF    A    CENTURY,   HAS  SUCCESSFULLY 
EMPLOYED  IT  IN  HIS  EXPOSITIONS  OF   SCRIP- 
TURE, AND  APPLIED  IT  IN  THE  INTER- 
PRETATION   OF    HUMAN    NATURE 

AND  OF  HUMAN  WANT; 

AS  AN  AFFECTIONATE  AND  GRATEFUL  TRIBUTE,  FOR  MORE  THAN 
TWENTY  YEARS'  PASTORAL  INSTRUCTION,  THESE  PAGES, 
INSPIRED  BY  AN  ARDENT  DESIRE  TO  BENE- 
FIT MANKIND,  ARE  RESPECTFULLY 
INSCRIBED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


-84624 


PREFACE. 


No  interests  of  a  secular  character  surpass  in  importance  the 
selection  of  a  proper  life-pursuit,  and  the  requisite  culture  of  the 
faculties  through  which  health,  success,  and  happiness  may  be 
achieved 

Whatever  will  minister  in  any  degree  to  these  great  interests 
should  challenge  ready  attention  and  cordial  acceptance. 

Most  young  persons  stumble  into  business,  or  are  thrown  into 
it  by  accident  or  temporary  necessity,  or  are  drawn  to  it  by  mis- 
guided ambition  or  a  perverted  fancy,  without  any  serious  thought 
as  to  their  real  fitness  for  the  vocation  they  adopt.  When  the 
years  for  learning  the  theory  and  practice  of  their  trade  or  pro- 
fession are  passed,  they  often  awake,  with  regret  and  dismay,  to* 
the  fact  that  they  have  not  only  made  a  mistake  in  their  selection, 
but  have  wasted  the  precious  years  of  early  manhood  upon,  a 
wrong  pursuit. 

An  attempt  is  made  in  this  work  to  show  what  bodily  and 
mental  peculiarities  are  adapted  to  different  trades  and  professions, 
and  also  to  show  how  the  faculties  of  the  intellect,  the  selfish  and 
animal  propensities,  and  the  moral  sentiments  of  man  may  be 
cultivated  and  trained,  so  that  each  person  may  secure  not  only 
the  best  possible  development  of  his  natural  powers,  but  that  guid- 
ance, training,  and  exercise  which  will  enable  him  to  make  the 


vi  PREFACE. 

most  of  himself  as  a  human  being,  and  to  place  himself  in  such 
relations  to  his  life-pursuit  as  to  secure  the  best  possible  success 
and  to  render  to  the  community  the  highest  degree  of  service ;  in 
short,  to  tell  every  honest  inquirer  "  What  to  do,  and  why ;  and 
how  to  educate  each  man  for  his  proper  work." 

In  the  author's  professional  duties  as  a  lecturer  and  in  the  appli- 
cation of  mental  science  to  practical  life,  during  a  period  of  more 
than  thirty  years,  the  substance  of  the  matter  composing  this  vol- 
ume has  been  given  to  patrons  in  criticism,  instruction,  and  advice ; 
and  he  has  reason  to  believe  that  many  persons  have  been  led 
thereby  to  the  adoption  of  appropriate  pursuits,  to  higher  life 
purposes,  and  to  a  richer  mental  culture ;  and  he  earnestly  hopes 
that  many  thousands  may  be  inspired  to  the  achievement  of  a 
better  manhood  and  nobler  success  through  the  influence  of  these 
pages,  long  after  the  friendly  hand  that  penned  them  shall  have 
gone  to  its  rest. 

PHRENOLOGICAL  ROOMS,  NEW  YORK,  March  9th,  1873. 


CONTENTS. 


P1G1 

CHOICE  OP  PURSUITS 11 

Desire  for  a  Profession 12 

Labor-Saving  Inventions 15 

CULTIVATION  OF  THE  SOIL 17 

Food-Raising 17 

Educated  Farmers 18 

Raw  Material  for  Clothing 20 

Stock-Raising 21 

MANUFACTURING 22 

Qualities  Required 23 

Mechanic  a  Benefactor 23 

Savage  and  Barbarous  Countries 24 

Book  Farming 25 

Inventor  a  Great  Man 26 

Mistakes  in  Selection 28 

TRADES  REQUIRING  STRENGTH 30 

Blacksmithing 31 

Carriage-Ironing 35 

Iron-Founding  .  ...•••••36 

The  Machinist 36 

Tin  and  Stove  Business 39 

Plumbing  and  Gas-Fitting 42 

Brass  Finishing 44 

Bricklaying 44 

Stone  Masonry 46 

Stonecutting 48 

Coopering 50 

Mill-Wrighting 50 

Carpentry 51 

Cabinet-Making 52 

Milling 62 


viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Butchering 53 

Tanning  and  Currying 54 

The  Seaman      ....                ....  55 

TRADES  REQUIRING  ACTIVITY  .......  65 

Cloth  Manufacture    ........  6.5 

Paper-Making 68 

Die-Sinking 73 

Engraving  on  Steel 73 

Engraving  on  Wood 74 

Printing 75 

Book-Binding .77 

Picture-Frame  Making 78 

MERCANTILE  PURSUITS 79 

Book-Selling 79 

Dry-Goods 80 

Jobbing — Shopping 81 

Hardware 83 

Lumber  Dealer 86 

Grocer 87 

Importer 89 

Financiering 90 

Salesman 91 

Book-Keeping 96 

Health  of  Clerks  and  Merchants 101 

MISCELLANEOUS  PURSUITS 105 

Contractor 105 

Conveyancing 106 

Insurance 106 

Canvasser  and  Commercial  Traveler       ....  107 

Express  and  Transportation 107 

Livery  Business 107 

Useless  and  Injurious  Pursuits 108 

OCCUPATIONS  FOR  WOMEN 110 

Teaching 110 

Millinery Ill 

Dress-Making 112 

Shirt-Making 113 

Tailoring : 

Printing 113 

Wood-Engraving 114 


CONTENTS.  ix 

PAGE 

Watch  Making 114 

Dentistry 115 

Merchandising 115 

Book-Keeping 116 

Grocery  Business 116 

Medicine 117 

Cooking 118 

Laundering 119 

WAGES,  OR  SALARY 121 

Low  Wages  at  First 122 

Too  Much  Wages  a  Damage 123 

Honesty  and  Fidelity  the  True  Policy  ....  124 

How  TO  OBTAIN  A  SITUATION 125 

PROFESSIONAL  AVOCATIONS 132 

Artist 132 

Eccentricity  of  Artists 136 

Common  Sense  in  Art 137 

Teachers  and  Teaching 143 

Editorship 148 

Reporting  and  Reporters 154 

Physician 164 

Legal  Profession 175 

Clergyman 181 

Phrenologist 194 

FOOD  FOR  THINKERS  AND  WORKERS 210 

How  TO  EDUCATE  EACH  MAN  FOR  His  WORK  .  .  .217 

Perversion  by  Training 217 

Physical  Training 218 

Diversity  of  Gifts 219 

Metaphysics  not  Practical 220 

Errors  of  Education 222 

Impediments  to  Education 231 

ALIMENTIVENESS — Hunger,  Food 245 

Animal  Instinct 246 

Training  of  Appetite 247 

Intemperance 248 

DESTRUCTITENESS  AND  COMBATIVENESS 253 

Courage  and  its  Laws 255 

Anger,  its  Training  and  Remedy 257 

True  Way  to  Whip 261 

1* 


CONTENTS. 


AFPROBATIVENESS  —  Desire  to  Please        .....  262 

Errors  in  its  Training       .......  264 

A  Contrast         .........  265 

Standard  of  Ambition      .......  270 

Amiable  Weaknesses        .......  272 

Insanity  of  each  Faculty  .......  273 

SELF-ESTEEM—  Dignity,  Pride,  Self-Respect     ....  274 

t/  Its  Value  in  Character      .......  275 

Training  of  Self-Esteem  .......  277 

CAUTIOUSNESS—  Prudence,  Fear  .        ......  280 

A  Congress  of  Faculties  .....                .  283 

Excessive  Cautiousness    .......  285 

Diseased  Cautiousness      .        .        .....  287 

ACQUISITIVENESS  —  Sense  of  Property       .....  290 

The  Tricks  of  Trade         .......  294 

SECRETIVENESS—  Concealment  .......  298 

Deception,  Hypocrisy       .......  300 

CONSTRUCTIVENESS—  Mechanical  Talent  .       .       .        ..       <  305 

IDEALITY  —  Taste,  Refinement    .......  313 

FIRMNESS—  Stability,  Determination  ......  317 

CONTINUITY,  or  CONCENTRATIVENESS  —  Application       .        .  325 

CONSCIENTIOUSNESS  —  Integrity  .......  331 

VENERATION—  Worship,  Respect      ......  336 

INTELLECTUAL  CULTURE   ........  341 

ORDER—  System,  Method    .        .        .       .....  345 

LOCALITY—  Memory  of  Places   .        .        .       .       .       .        .  349 

LANGUAGE  —  Talking  Talent       .......  355 

GIRLS,  THEIR  PHYSICAL  TRAINING  .....       .  359 

Sexes  Blended  ....        .....  359 

Masculine  Women     ........  860 

Girlhood  Restraints  ........  361 

Causes  of  Invalid  Women        ......  362 

Early  Habits  of  Girls        .......  367 

Fashion  forbids  Exertion         ......  368 

GIRLS,  THEIR  MENTAL  CULTURE     ......  369 

HABIT,  A  LAW  OP  MIND    ........  374 

A  CLOSING  WORD             ........  382 


WHAT  TO  DO,  AND  WHY. 


To  the  young  man,  no  question  is  more  important  than 
this,  What  pursuit  shall  I  follow  ?  and,  we  may  add,  none 
is  more  frequently  asked  and  none  less  frequently  or  satis- 
factorily answered.  Man's  pursuit  is,  in  a  great  degree, 
the  foundation  of  his  fortune  and  his  happiness ;  yet  on  no 
subject  are  young  men  more  liable  to  fatal  mistake,  and  in 
reference  to  none  do  they  play  a  more  blind  and  hazard- 
ous part  than  in  the  selection  of  an  occupation. 

Ignorant  of  their  real  capabilities  and  deficiencies,  and 
uninformed  in  the  school  of  experience,  they  submit  to 
the  guidance  of  a  treacherous  fancy,  or  are  pushed  by 
real  or  apparent  necessity  to  enter  upon  an  avocation  to 
which  their  talents  are  not  adapted ;  and  after  wasting  the 
best  years  of  life  in  finding  out  their  mistake,  they  sink 
into  a  dejection  of  spirit  and  a  paralysis  of  hope  and 
ambition,  or,  in  despair,  recklessly  rush  into  vice  and 
ruin. 

We  think  there  is  no  cause  more  prolific  of  mischief,  to 
the  individual  and  to  the  community  in  which  he  dwells, 
than  the  selection  of  a  wrong  pursuit.  If  every  man  had 
an  occupation  to  which  he  was  better  adapted,  all  things 
considered,  than  to  any  other,  he  would  be  in  possession 


.12  DESIEE  FOE  A  PEOFESSIOIT. 

of  the  highest  and  best  field  of  action  he  is  capable  of 
filling,  and  have  within  his  reach  the  largest  amount  of 
success  and  happiness  of  which  he  is  capable;  and  if, 
added  to  this  fact,  he  could  have  some  positive  assurance 
of  success,  his  mind  would  acquire  a  spirit  of  contentment 
with  his  lot,  and  a  pride  or  ambition  to  fill  his  station  well. 
Moreover,  a  vast  majority  of  the  crime  and  wretchedness 
that  now  scourge  the  race,  would  be  obviated  if  all  men 
had  enough  to  do  of  the  right  kind  of  business ;  and  we 
believe  that  all  might  have,  if  every  man  were  in  his  true 
sphere.  Most  men  are  better  adapted  to  farming  or  mech- 
anism than  they  are  to  mercantile  pursuits,  to  art,  or  to 
professional  life,  and  it  is  apparent  that  the  industrial  pur- 
suits open  a  far  wider  field  for  effort  than  the  avocations 
requiring  taste  and  culture.  We  want  at  least  five  hun- 
dred farmers  and  mechanics  to  one  lawyer,  one  clergyman, 
one  physician,  one  artist,  and  one  merchant. 

In  the  present  state  of  public  sentiment,  however,  nearly 
every  young  man,  with  any  pretensions  to  talent,  thinks 
he  must  be  a  lawyer,  doctor,  minister,  or  merchant.  The 
plow  is  abandoned  in  the  furrow ;  the  saw,  the  hammer, 
and  the  plane  are  discarded;  and  the  stores,  medical 
schools,  and  lawyer's  offices  are  swarming  with  candidates 
Xlbr  wealth  and  fame. 

"The  statistics  of  medicine,  law,  divinity,  trade,  and  art 
we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining ;  but  suffice  it  to  say, 
that  nearly  every  one  of  these  pursuits  is  overcrowded, 
and  that  failure  and  poverty  necessarily  await  the  great 
majority  of  those  who  are  entering  the  lists  to  obtain  the 
few  prizes  in  this  great  professional  lottery. 


WAITING  FOE  TlLLEES.  13 


Our  farmers  are  reaping  a  golden  Harvest,  and  through 
all  seasons  of  hard  times  which  pinch  nearly  everybody 
but  themselves,  they  command  enormous  prices  for  their 
products.  Does  not  this  fact  indicate  that  the  plow  has 
been  neglected  for  trade  and  other  pursuits,  until  farming 
has  become  a  monopoly,  and  farmers  the  true  lords  of  the 
land?  They  virtually  put  an  embargo  on  our  mouths,  and 
name  the  premium  at  which  they  will  raise  it ;  and  though 
judges,  senators,  and  millionaires  cry  out  extortion  !  ROB- 
BERY !  the  farmer  quietly  holds  the  keys  to  our  stomachs, 
and  refuses  to  yield  them  except  on  his  own  terms.  Every 
mercantile  crisis  is  a  severe  test  of  virtue,  as  numerous 
frauds,  defalcations,  and  failures  attest.  Is  not  this  a 
sufficiently  severe  lesson  for  young  men  who  think  it 
would  be  very  fine  to  be  a  merchant  ?  There  are,  at  least, 
a  hundred  blanks  to  a  prize  in  this  pursuit. 

On  the  other  hand,  millions  of  acres  of  land  in  our  great 
West,  rich,  nay  rank  with  unshorn  luxuriance,  await  the 
first  foot-prints  of  civilization,  and  beckon  the  gathering 
hand  to  take  possession  of  their  inexhaustible  stores. 
Prairies  almost  boundless  wave  their  blooming  verdure 
to  the  breeze  with  no  owner's  eye  to  admire  their  beauty, 
no  olfactory  to  be  regaled  by  their  floral  fragrance,  and 
no  hand  to  garner  up  the  teeming  fruits  of  this  sunny 
bosom  of  nature. 

It  is  a  common  remark,  that  everybody  wants  to  do 
that  which  is  easiest  and  most  remunerative.  In  our 
professional  career  we  often  meet  with  those  who  are 
sincerely  desirous  of  doing  the  wisest  and  best  thing 
possible,  and  we  are  frequently  asked,  "What  position 


14  HAED  WORK  COMMENDABLE. 

in  life  am  I  best  fitted  to  fill  properly  ?  With  my  talents 
and  characteristics,  what  ought  I  to  do  ?  What  would  be 
best  for  the  community  that  I  should  do  ?  Not  merely 
wherein  can  I  secure  the  most  money,  but  what  has  the 
world  a  right  to  expect  from  me  ?  " 

Others  have  a  different  spirit.  One  young- -*n&TF  whom 
we  happen  to  know,  wrote  us  for  our  assistance  in  obtain- 
ing a  situation.  He  modestly  stated :  "  I  wanJLa  situation 
in  which  the  duties  are  very  light  and  the  pay  very  large." 
This  seems  to  be  the  desire  of  many,  but  few  have  the 
candor  to  put  it  in  black  and  white.  Many  persons, 
though  not  endowed  with  talent  for  a  high  vocation,  still 
crave  earnestly  the  pleasures  and  emoluments  of  pursuits 
for  which  they  have  little  or  no  talent,  and  in  which  they 
can  deserve  no  high  degree  of  success.  Men  seem  anxious 
to  avoid  the  supposed  curse  of  gaining  their  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow. 

Occasionally  we  find  a  man  willing  to  bend  his  back  to 
the  rough  burdens  of  life.  One  snowy,  sloppy  day  in 
New  York  we  passed  an  aged  son  of  Erin  engaged  in 
carrying  coal,  from  a  pile  on  the  sidewalk,  up  several 
flights  of  stairs.  As  he  bent  to  His^t^sk,  we  thought, 
"  What  a  pity  that  he  could  not  have  in  his  old  age  relief 
from  such  toil ! "  and  ventured  to  ask  him  if  he  did  not 
wish  he  had  learned  some  trade  when  young,  so  that  at 
his  time  of  life  he  could  avoid  such  drudgery.  He  replied, 
in  a  ringing,  hopeful  voice  :  "  Who,  thin,  sir,  wud  do  the 
laborin'  work  ?  "  God  bless  you  in  your  cheerful  perform- 
ance of  humble  duty,  thought  we  as  we  passed  along ; 
whoever  is  willing  to  do  "  the  laborin'  work,"  and  does  it 


LABOK- SAVING  MACHINERY.  15 

cheerfully,  may  be  fulfilling  his  destiny  and  earning  the 
final  commendation :  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  serv- 
ant." Since  that  time,  whenever  we  see  strong  arms 
engaged  in  the  fulfillment  of  heavy  work,  we  say,  God 
bless  those  who  are  willing  to  do  "  the  laborin'  work,"J£ 
it  must  be  done  by  manual  strength. 

LABOR-SAVING   INVENTIONS. 

We  render  special  homage  to  the  genius  which  contrived 
the  steam-engine,  whereby  horse-flesh  and  manual  labor 
are  greatly  lightened,  and  the  comforts  of  the  world 
multiplied  a  hundred-fold.  He  who  invented  the  mowing 
machine  relieved  the  aching  backs  of  millions.  Verily  he 
made  two  spires  of  grass  grow  where  but  one  grew  before, 
or  made  it  possible  for  a  man  to  avail  himself  of  twice  as 
much  as,  by  hand,  he  was  previously  able  to  do.  All 
honor  to  the  man  who  invented  iron  fingers  to  do  the 
world's  sewing,  as  well  as  to  him  who  invented  the  spin- 
ning-jenny and  the  power-loom  with  which  to  make  the 
cloth.  Notwithstanding  all  the  machinery  the  world  has 
in  use,  there  is  still  a  great  deal  of  laboring  work  to  be 
done.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  man  of  genius  and  talent, 
with  an  equally  strong  body,  would  make  a  better  laborer 
than  the  stupid  hind  who  only  knows  enough  to  use  his 
physical  strength  to  break  stone  or  shovel  earth.  But 
since  all  men  are  not  possessed  of  inventive  talent  and 
philosophical  planning  ability,  many  must  be  content  to 
perform  the  simpler  operations  of  labor,  and  happy  is  the 
man  who  has  the  wisdom  and  honesty  to  accept  cheerfully 
the  pursuit  in  which  he  can  serve  the  world  and  himself 


16    GOOD  SEEYICE  THE  MEASUKE  OF  MEEIT. 

best,  whether  it  be  according  to  the  world's  estimate, 
high  or  low.  To  be  a  good  and  faithful  doer,  and  to 
secure  success  in  the  doing,  should  be  the  great  object  of 
effort. 

It  does  not  require  great  sagacity  to  understand  that  it 
is  better  for  a  man  to  be  a  first-class  lumberman  than  a 
third-class  cabinet-maker.  He  who  can  fell  trees,  float 
the  logs  to  market  and  cut  them  into  boards,  and  do  it 
well,  is  far  more  useful  in  his  success  than  the  shabby- 
builder  or  cabinet-maker  who  partially  spoils  good  lumber 
in  the  construction  of  indifferent  houses  or  poor  furniture. 
Success,  in  its  best  sense,  is  the  measure  of  merit.  It  is^ 
not  how  much  money  he  makes  —  the  w^orld  sometimes 
pays  for  poor  services — but  it  is  how  much  good  service 
he  renders  the  world  !  When  a  man  has  rendered  such 
service,  the  world  owes  him  adequate  compensation  ;  noth- 
ing less  than  this  sh6uld  he  receive,  nor  has  he  a  right  to 
anything  more.  What,  then,  can  each  person  do  in  which 
he  can  serve  the  world  in  the  best  manner,  and  through 
those  means  deserve  such  remuneration  as  will  be  neces- 
sary for  his  comfort  and  support  ? 


VACANT  LANDS  IN  THE  EAST.  17 


i» 

aulticafion  of  ife  Soil 

FOOD-KAISING. 

IT  should  be  the  aim  of  every  honest  man,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  business,  to  do  only  that  which  is  useful — that 
which  will  add  to  the  intelligence,  the  comfort,  the  virtue, 
or  the  legitimate  wealth  of  the  world.  Among  the  labo- 
rious vocations,  we  regard  those  as  standing  first  which 
produce  something  intrinsically  valuable.  The  first  neces- 
sity of  man  is  food ;  consequently  food-producers  ought 
to  take  a  prime  rank  among  men.  In  this  country,  at 
least,  we  need  five  farmers  where  we  now  have  one.  An 
error,  as  we  believe,  has  pervaded  public  sentiment  rela- 
tive to  the  size  of  farms.  Men  have  frequently  two  hun- 
dred acres  or  more,  when  they  could  cultivate  properly 
not  more  than  fifty,  the  remainder  lying  partially  waste. 
These  two  hundred  acres,  therefore,  should  have  three 
more  farmers,  giving  to  each  fifty  acres.  While  men  are 
traveling  from  the  Eastern  States  into  the  West,  even 
going  to  California,  to  cultivate  the  land^about  one-third 
of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  probably  one-third  of  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  very  large  fields  of  territory 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  are  yet  untouched,  utterly 
uncultivated  and  wild ;  and  that  expense  which  would  be 
requisite  to  move  a  family  to  Kansas  would  buy  land 
enough  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  to  support  a  family. 
Men  should  learn  to  till  the  soil  well,  and  make  every  acre 


1.8  FOOD-KAISIISTG. 

of  land  largely  productive.  Nor  should  men  be  satisfied 
simply  to  raise  cereals  for  the  market ;  and  though  bread 
is  the  staff  of  life,  every  family  needs  fruit  in  liberal  meas- 
ure for  the  health  of  its  members. 

Farming,  therefore,  should  not  be  understood  as  merely 
raising  corn  and  wheat,  pork,  beef,  and  butter.  Every 
farmer  should  raise  all  the  fruit  his  own  family  requires, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  for  market.  This  would 
insure  to  himself  and  family  this  healthful  ingredient  of 
food,  while  the  market  would  be  amply  supplied,  so  that 
citizens  and  villagers  engaged  in  other  occupations  could 
have  in  abundance  this  much-needed  article  of  food. 

EDUCATED   FARMERS. 

Farmers  should  not  be  the  drudges  and  intellectual 
drones  they  now  are.  They  should  study  chemistry,  and 
understand  soils ;  botany  and  physiology,  that  they  may 
understand  the  nature  of  plants,  and  the  properties  of 
food,  and  the  laws  of  health,  and  thus  prosecute  their 
vocation  intelligently.  Some  people  think  that  brute  force, 
and  not  intelligence,  is  required  by  the  farmer.  A  man  of 
thorough  culture  will  get  as  much  profit  from  ten  acres 
of  land  as  one  without  culture,  or  the  knowledge  derived 
from  other  people's  culture,  will  get  from  fifty  acres.  It 
is  well,  therefore,  for  young  men  to  turn  their  attention  to 
farming ;  and  if  people  following  that  pursuit  are  less 
intelligent  and  less  respectable  than  they  should  be,  let  a 
million  young  men  of  culture  manfully  go  to  the  soil,  and 
thereby  redeem  the  business  from  the  disgrace  of  igno- 
rance and  consequent  unthrift,  and  acquire  a  generous 


YOUNG  MEN  SHOULD  SEEK  THE  SOIL.       19 

support,  instead  of  shivering  around  the  outskirts  of  the 
overcrowded  professions.  Let  them  carry  their  intelli- 
gence to  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  as  nature 
always  generously  rewards  honest,  intelligent  labor,  they 
will  have  their  reward.  True,  a  farmer  needs  courage 
and  strength  ;  he  needs  energy  of  character  and  perseve- 
rance; he  ought  to  have  Combativeness  and  Destruc- 
tiveness  sufficiently  developed  to  give  him  force  and  the 
spirit  of  industry ;  he  ought  to  have  Cautiousness,  to  give 
him  prudence ;  and  Acquisitiveness,  to  give  him  economy  ; 
he  should  have  a  fair  degree  of  Constructiveness,  to  under- 
stand the  principles  of  mechanism  and  to  enable  him  to 
wield  the  tools  and  implements  of  his  business  with  skill 
and  effect ;  he  ought  to  have  large  perceptive  organs,  so 
that  his  power  of  observation  shall  be  sufficient  to  open 
his  mind  to  all  the  surrounding  facts  of  nature ;  he  should 
have  the  power  of  analysis  and  a  good  memory,  so  that 
the  facts  of  past  experience  may  be  carefully  treasured  up 
and  be  made  available  to  him. 

The  farmer  does  not  really  need  an  eloquent  tongue. 
He  does  not  need  much  Ideality  or  Approbativeness, 
though  we  believe  the  possession  of  all  the  organs  well 
developed  and  properly  cultivated  would  make  him  more 
of  a  man  and  more  of  a  farmer.  The  right  temperament 
for  a  farmer  is  one  in  which  the  Motive,  or  muscular,  is 
sufficient  to  give  a  good  frame ;  in  which  also  the  Vital 
temperament  is  sufficient  to  give  strong  nutritive  and 
sustaining  power ;  and  there  should  be  a  fair  development 
of  the  Mental  temperament,  but  that  should  not  be  in 
excess,  otherwise  he  would  be  inclined  to  neglect  physical 


20  GrKAZIN 

exertion,  and  live  too  much  in  the  realm  of  mental  specu- 
lation. A  plump,  strong,  substantial  body,  therefore,  is 
the  best  for  a  farmer,  so  that  physical  exertion  shall  not 
be  too  great  a  tax  on  the  one  hand,  and  that  it  may  be 
pleasurable  on  the  other. 

RAW   MATERIAL   FOB   CLOTHING. 

The  production  of  food  by  the  farmer  does  not  cover 
the  whole  ground  of  production  from  the  soil.  There  is 
wool-growing,  the  raising  of  flax,  hemp,  and  cotton,  the 
raising  of  cattle  for  their  butter,  cheese,  hides,  and  beef. 
The  vocation  of  grazing  varies  somewhat  from  that  of 
grain  and  fruit  raising.  It  can  be  conducted  on  soils  ill 
adapted  to  the  profitable  raising  of  grain.  The  mountain 
ranges  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  Ver- 
mont could  be  profitably  employed  for  pasturage ;  while 
with  proper  facilities  for  the  transportation  of  flocks, 
either  by  rail  or  by  driving,  they  could  be  taken  to  be 
wintered  where  hay  is  abundantly  produced.  The  idea 
of  keeping  a  few  sheep  on  a  mountain  range,  and  being 
obliged  to  pick  out  the  smooth  places  to  mow  grass  to 
keep  them  through  the  winter,  is  not,  in  our  judgment, 
the  way  to  raise  wool.  But  let  the  whole  mountain  be 
employed  for  pasture,  and  some  not  too  distant  valley, 
where  hay  is  plentiful,  be  the  wintering-place.  America 
ought  to  be  ashamed  to  import  wo'ol  of  any  kind ;  and 
linen,  we  doubt  not,  could  be  quite  as  well  produced  here 
as  in  Ireland ;  and  if  we  have  not  enough  Irish  people 
here  to  dress  and  spin  the  flax,  we  certainly  could  import 
them. 


FOEEST-TEEE  CULTTJEE.  21 

STOCK-RAISING. 

The  business  of  raising  (Tattle  ought  to  be  largely  fol- 
lowed. Pork  is  unfit  food  for  man,  as  it  is  generally  pro- 
duced. If  swine  could  run  at  large  as  beef- cattle  do,  and 
not  be  confined  to  close  pens  without  exercise  or  pure  air, 
and  were  not  stuffed  with  corn  and  over-fattened,  thereby 
rendering  their  flesh  diseased,  pork  would  not  be  so  detri- 
mental an  article  of  food  as  it  now  is.  But  let  oxen  and 
sheep,  which  make  the  best  kinds  of  animal  food  for  the 
use  of  man,  take  the  place  of  swine,  and  it  would  be  a 
great  step  toward  progress  and  improvement.  Beefsteak 
ought  not  to  cost  thirty  cents  a  pound.  It  ought  to  be  so 
abundant  as  to  be  relatively  cheap.  Two  men  could  take 
care  of  five  hundred  head  of  cattle,  especially  during  the 
grazing  season ;  and  we  think  it  would  be  profitable  for 
farmers  having,  say,  thirty  or  forty  acres  of  land,  to  raise 
something  besides  cattle-feed.  Let  the  cattle  be  grown 
mainly  where  the  soil  is  not  tillable;  at  least  let  them 
spend  eight  months  of  the  year  on  such  lands. 

The  stock-raiser  requires  to  be  a  patient,  thoughtful 
man,  who  has  Hope  enough  to  wait  until  his  appointed 
time  for  profit ;  one  who  is  inclined  to  read  and  think,  and 
is  fond  of  general  exercise  and  exertion.  Such  a  man  need 
not  be  a  plodder.  He  may  be,  even,  ambitious  and  enter- 
prising. 

LUMBERING   AND   TREE   CULTURE. 

Another  of  the  departments  of  productive  industry 
requiring  perseverance,  energy,  industry,  and  good  practi- 
cal judgment,  is  that  of  "  lumbering."  But  if  our  views 
of  right  modes  of  cultivating  land  could  prevail,  this 


22  MANUFACTURING. 

shearing  of  the  native  forests  would  not  last  for  many 
generations.  Timber  is  becoming  comparatively  scarce, 
and  if  land  were  wanted  by  a  million  more  farmers  it  would 
soon  be,  to  a  great  extent,  stripped.  There  should  be 
attention  paid  to  the  planting  of  forest  trees.  They  will 
grow  about  as  quickly  as  fruit-trees.  In  twenty  years, 
chestnut  timber  can  be  grown  large  enough  for  railroad 
ties  or  fence  posts.  In  general,  to  follow  the  pursuits 
mentioned,  a  man  needs  strength,  courage,  fortitude,  and 
patience  originating  in  a  strong  temperament  and  a  large 
base  of  brain,  with  good  practical  talent  and  large  Firm- 
ness. A  man  does  not  need  a  high  degree  of  taste  or 
mechanical  talent.  He  needs  but  little  policy,  and  not 
great  Imitation  or  logical  power ;  good  common  sense  and 
good  health  being,  of  course,  as  in  other  callings,  chief 
qualifications. 


THE  first  great  need  of  mankind  being  food,  and  that 
having  been  properly  supplied,  the  next  great  want  is 
clothing,  the  raw  material  of  which  is  supplied  directly  or 
indirectly  from  the  land.  We  now  come  to  consider  the 
usefulness  of  manufactures,  and  the  talents  required  in 
these  pursuits.  The  manufacture  of  clothing,  of  course, 
does  not  cover  the  whole  field  of  mechanical  ingenuity ; 
but  there  is  hardly  a  more  useful  department ;  certainly  it 


EVERY  USEFUL  PURSUIT  HONORABLE.       23 

is  second  only  to  food-raising  in  its  importance  and  value 
to  mankind. 

THE    QUALITIES   BE  QUIRED. 

To  be  a  manufacturer  and  a  tool-user  requires,  first  of 
all,  constructive  talent,  and  this  comes  from  large  Con- 
structiveness  combined  with  large  perceptive  organs,  espe- 
cially those  of  Form,  Size,  Weight,  and  Order.  One 
needs,  in  addition  to  these  organs,  a  good  degree  of 
Causality,  as  a  basis  for  the  planning  and  inventive  talent. 
Many  persons  are  good  tool-users,  with  simply  perception 
and  Constructiveness,  and  that  part  of  Constructiveness, 
too,  which  seems  to  work  with  the  perceptive  organs,  not 
that  portion  which  works  upward  with  Causality  and 
Ideality,  and  gives  a  tendency  to  plan,  lay  out  ^ork,  and 
invent. 

THE  MECHANIC  A  GREAT  BENEFACTOR. 

When  we  look  around  us  and  consider  how  many  of  the 
comforts  of  life,  to  say  nothing  of  its  elegances  and 
refinements,  originate  in  constructive  talent,  the  mechanic 
appears  to  be  one  of  the  principal  men  in  the  community ; 
and  so  he  is.  It  requires  ingenuity  to  make  a  yard  of 
cloth ;  to  work  the  raw  material  into  threads ;  and  those 
threads  into  fabrics,  and  those  fabrics  into  garments.  To 
change  the  raw  hide  of  animals  into  useful  and  ornamental 
boots,  shoes,  gloves,  harness,  and  the  like,  is  no  child's 
play.  The  house  also  should  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the 
clothing  of  the  human  race.  The  umbrella  as  well  as  the 
cloak  keeps  off  a  part  of  the  storm,  and  so  the  roof  and 
the  walls  of  the  house  are  a  certain  kind  of  outside  cloth- 
ing, as  the  shuck  and  shell  of  the  walnut  shield  the  living 


24  LOED  OF  LOOM  AND  ANVIL. 

germ  within.  The  carpenter,  the  mason,  the  cabinet- 
maker, the  decorator,  and  the  carpet-weaver  must  not  be 
forgotten.  Look  at  a  house  and  its  furniture,  with  the 
clothing  of  the  family  !  Look  at  all  the  conveniences  for 
cooking  and  eating,  the  elegant  contrivances  for  the  grati- 
fication of  taste  which  a  well-appointed  house  affords  ! 
and  one  would  think  that  three-fourths  of  the  human  race 
were  employed  in  the  realm  of  manufactures.  Viewing 
the  subject  from  this  point,  we  may  ask,  is  not 

THE  LOED  OP  THE  LOOM  AND  THE  ANVIL 

a  lord  indeed  among  men  ?  Certainly  he  serves  the 
world ;  and  as,  according  to  Scripture,  "  he  that  would 
be  great,"  let  him  be  your  minister,"  so  he  who  ministers 
to  the  comfort  of  men  in  the  way  of  clothing,  useful 
articles  or  implements,  houses,  furniture,  and  decorations, 
ought  to  rank  well.  Let  no  man  who  can  construct  a 
house,  or  a  carpet,  or  a  piece  of  useful  furniture,  or  an 
utensil  for  cooking,  feel  that  he  is,  by  virtue  of  his  pursuit, 
degraded.  If  he  incline  to  feel  so,  let  him  look  into 

SAVAGE  AND  BARBAROUS  LANDS, 

where  the  three-legged  stool  has  yet  to  be  invented ; 
where  the  skins  of  animals  are  used  for  clothing,  or  rude 
structures  of  the  bark  and  branches  of  trees  are  the  only 
houses,  and  contrast  that  •  nation  with  those  which  are 
highly  civilized,  and  he  will  appreciate  the  dignity  of 
mechanical  labor.  To  be  an  artisan,  doubtless  requires  a 
higher  order  of  talent  than  it  does  to  be  what  is  generally 
understood  by  the  term  farmer.  The  artisan  has  sharp 


BIVALRY  AN  EDUCATOR.  25 

competition.  The  world  knows  the  difference  between 
good  and  bad  work  when  it  relates  to  the  construction  of 
a  chair,  a  boot,  or  a  bureau,  but  has  not  yet  so  far 
advanced  as  to  be  able  to  determine,  in  general,  the 
difference  between  good  and  bad  farming.  Indeed,  there 
is  so  little  of  good  farming,  that  we  have  nothing  really 
with  which  to  contrast  poor  work  in  that  line ;  and  so 
long  as  every  man  who  has  culture  and  aspires  to  be 
respected  entertains  the  untruthful  opinion  that  to  be  a 
tiller  of  the  soil  is  to  be  merely  a  drudge,  and  a  disrepu- 
table one  at  that,  so  long  the  best  talent  and  culture  will 
seek  other  vocations.  The  sharp  attritions  and  competi- 
tions of  rivalry  serve  to  urge  manufactures  forward  toward 
perfection  much  more  rapidly  than  any  influences  now 
operating  tend  to  push  forward  and  perfect  agriculture. 
Agricultural  publications  are  working  in  the  right  direc- 
tion ;  still,  there  is  a  sneer  on  nine-tenths  of  the  faces  of  the 
farmers  against 

"BOOK  FARMING," 

and  this  sneer  is  partly  merited,  because  fanciful,  unlabo- 
rious  gentlemen,  with  chemistry  and  vegetable  physiology 
hi  their  heads,  and  very  little  practical  experience,  have 
undertaken  to  carry  on  farming  by  the  book  with  kid 
gloves  on,  and  of  course  made  everything  cost  more  than 
it  would  sell  for.  But  this  is  no  argument.  The  sturdy 
son  of  the  soil  should  have  a  sturdy,  common-sense  edu- 
cation, and  then  he  can  elevate  his  pursuit.  The  mechanic 
is  forced  by  competition  to  educate  himself  in  his  business, 
to  bring  all  the  appliances  of  science  to  the  perfection  and 
development  of  his  work. 

2 


26  THE  INVENTOR  A  GREAT  MAN. 

The  mechanic  needs  a  prominent  brow,  to  give  him 
perception,  and  a  good  development  above  it,  to  give 
reasoning  talent.  He  needs  a  full  temple,  to  give  him 
ingenuity  and  taste,  and  considerable  wideness  to  the 
middle  and  back  head,  to  give  him  economy,  energy,  and 
force.  He  requires  a  good  degree  of  the  Mental  temper- 
ament, to  make  his  mind  sharp  and  clear;  and  enough  of 
the  Motive  temperament,  to  give  him  force,  industry,  and 
activity ;  and  of  the  Vital  temperament,  sufficient  to  furnish 
the  steam  for  vigorous  effort,  and  to  maintain  him  in 
health ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  he  needs  pure  air  to 
breathe,  and  plenty  of  sunlight.  Making  boots  in  cellars 
by  gaslight  is  low  business,  because  it  crushes  the  man. 

THE   INVENTOR   A   GREAT   MAN. 

Consider  the  inventor  of  the  steam  engine,  the  power 
loom,  the  printing  press,  the  sewing  machine,  and  all  other 
machinery  by  which  various  articles  of  utility  and  elegance 
are  constructed.  Verily  he  is  a  creator  who  can  compel 
dead  iron,  wood,  and  other  material  substances,  to  take 
the  place  of  fingers,  and  almost  take  the  place  of  thought. 
He  who  looks  upon  the  inventor  or  the  successful  user  of 
machinery  as  an  ignoble  man,  or  upon  that  pursuit  as  low 
and  base,  has  yet  to  learn  the  first  lesson  in  the  realm  of 
truth  as  applied  to  justice,  honor,  and  respectability. 

UTILITY    OF   PHRENOLOGY   IN   SELECTING   TRADES. 

It  is  an  unfortunate  fact,  that  thousands  blunder  into 
business  without  any  knowledge  of  their  capacity  for 
particular  occupations,  and  stumble  on  through  difficulties 


EARNING  vs.  STEALING.  27 

and  disappointments  to  bankruptcy  of  pocket  and  of  hope. 
Their  lives  are  rendered  miserable  by  ill-success  and 
vexation.  They 'find  fault  with  their  fortune,  and  some, 
in  a  fit  of  desperation,  quit  a  life  which  has  been  to  them 
only  a  scene  of  unrequited  struggle.  There  are  few  per- 
sons of  any  intelligence  who  are  not  adapted  for  respect- 
able success  in  some  useful  pursuit ;  and  could  they  but 
ascertain,  before  wasting  long  years  of  fruitless  apprentice- 
ship, for  what  avocation  they  are  best  adapted,  they  might 
at  once  avail  themselves  of  this  most  important  informa- 
tion, and  taking  the  flood-tide  of  circumstances,  go  on  to 
success,  if  not  to  fortune.  The  world  has  need  of  all  the 
energy  and  skill  of  its  inhabitants,  and  if  each  one  could 
find  his  true  pursuit,  and  would  follow  it  honestly  and 
faithfully,  failures  would  become  exceedingly  rare,  while 
the  sum  of  human  happiness  would  be  vastly  enhanced — 
the  average  of  life  extended,  and  there  would  be  probably 
a  third  more  accomplished  by  mankind  than  at  present. 

EARNING   VS.    STEALING. 

We  have  often  thought  that  there  were  few  men  in  the 
world  so  depraved  that  they  would  not  prefer  an  honest 
to  a  dishonest  pursuit ;  and  if  they  could  be  provided 
with  the  means  of  procuring  a  respectable  and  honest 
livelihood,  nearly  all  the  crimes  which  disgrace  humanity 
would  be  done  away.  He  who  has  a  sure,  respectable, 
and  honest  trade,  by  which  he  can  secure  not  only  his 
daily  bread,  but  many  of  the  comforts  and  conveniencies 
of  life,  has  comparatively  little  temptation  to  engage  in 
the  precarious  modes  of  dishonest  acquisition.  If  we  were 


38  MISTAKES  IN  SELECTION. 

to  recommend,  as  a  safeguard  to  the  young,  any  single 
thing,  it  would  be  this:  Give  your  son  a  business  or 
trade  by  which  he  can  gain  an  honorable  maintenance  and 
a  respectable  place  in  society.  Do  not  try  to  make  him 
a  gentleman  without  labor,  or  teach  him  that  he  can  be 
respected  without  intelligence  and  virtue. 

MISTAKES   IN   SELECTION. 

Phrenology  we  regard  as  an  essential  aid  to  parents  in 
the  selection  of  pursuits  for  their  children,  and  in  thou- 
sands of  instances  we  have  had  opportunity  to  witness  the 
great  advantages  to  be  derived  from  its  application. 
Many  persons  suppose  that  if  a  boy  have  large  Construct- 
iveness,  he  can  succeed  in  any  mechanical  trade.  This  is 
a  great  mistake.  It  must  be  understood,  however,  that 
by  success  we  do  not  mean  mere  physical  or  pecuniary 
success.  Real  success  embraces  other  ideas.  A  man 
should  be  happy  in  following  his  trade  ;  should  feel  proud 
and  ambitious  in  respect  to  it,  and  try  to  perfect  and 
advance  his  line  of  business.  For  example — a  boy  with 
large  Form,  Size,  and  Constructiveness  could  succeed  in 
blacksmithing,  so  far  as  forming  and  finishing  work  are 
concerned ;  but  if  he  have  small  Combativeness  and 
Firmness,  he  will  never  engage  in  its  prosecution  with 
anything  like  pleasure.  He  might,  however,  succeed  well 
as  a  locksmith,  or  as  a  gas-fitter,  a  maker  of  fine  cutlery, 
or  anything  light,  nice,  and  ornamental. 

A  young  man,  with  brawny  muscles  and  stalwart  frame, 
with  great  force  of  character,  pride,  and  energy,  would 
prefer  to  be  a  blacksmith,  or  stonecutter,  or  a  millwright, 


SLOWNESS  IN  LEARNING  A  TRADE.         29 

in  which  he  could  wield  his  force  and  power,  and  work  off 
his  physical  steam.  He  could  not  be  confined  to  watch- 
making, or  to  mathematical  instruments,  or  any  other 
light  trade,  though  he  has  all  the  requisite  ingenuity  for 
its  successful  prosecution.  Some  have  such  a  combination 
of  organs  that  they  can  readily  take  up  a  trade  without 
instruction  or  apprenticeship,  and  in  a  short  time  become 
excellent  workmen.  Others  have  less  practical  talent,  or 
the  elements  of  mechanical  skill;  they  require  years  of 
experience,  but  ultimately  make  good  workmen.  These 
latter  should  not  be  discouraged  if  they  can  not  cope  at 
first  with  those  who  require  comparatively  little  or  no 
practice  or  experience.  Some  require  to  have  their  avo- 
cation minutely  explained  at  every  step  ;  but  when  this  is 
done  faithfully,  they  comprehend  their  business.  Masters 
should  understand  this  fact,  and  not  lose  their  patience 
with  such  apprentices,  nor  fail  to  instruct  them  ;  nor  should 
the  comparatively  smart  ones  boast  over  the  others  be- 
cause of  their  success  in  this  direction,  while  they  may 
lack  many  noble  qualities  of  intellect  and  disposition  which 
go  to  make  the  man  and  the  citizen,  which  the  others 
possess. 

Some  persons  are  so  organized,  mentally  and  physically, 
that  anything  like  hard  work  awakens  dread  and  aversion. 
They  do  not  lack  the  spirit  of  industry ;  they  are  willing 
to  give  attention,  thought,  and  such  effort  as  they  can 
bestow,  but  they  can  not  take  hold  of  heavy,  hard  work. 
They  could  ride  all  day,  and  half  the  night— the  steam- 
engine  or  horse  doing  the  drudgery.  They  can  think, 
talk,  watch,  wait,  negotiate,  and  do  light  work.  These 


30  TEADES  EEQUIEINO  STEENGTH. 

persons  generally  have  light  muscles,  a  comparatively 
small  chest,  and  not  very  much  digestive  power.  They 
make  but  little  steam ;  the  base  of  their  brain  is  compara- 
tively small,  and  most  of  their  cerebral  development  is 
forward  of  the  ears. 

Another  class  like  hard  work;  as  it  has  been  said, 
"  their  muscles  ache  with  pure  strength,"  and  if  they  are 
confined  to  light  occupations  or  sedentary  pursuits,  they 
fret,  become  discontented,  and  probably  quit  the  business 
at  the  first  opportunity.  Such  a  boy,  put  to  engraving, 
type-setting,  watch-making,  or  tailoring,  will  straighten 
up  a  hundred  tunes  a  day,  and  every  fiber  in  his  system 
will  yearn  for  liberty  and  for  labor.  Therefore  physiology 
— bodily  development — is  to  be  considered,  in  selecting  a 
pursuit,  as  well  as  mental  disposition  and  talent. 


AMONG  the  trades  requiring  robustness  of  constitution, 
with  strong  bones  and  muscles,  large  lungs,  and  a  broad 
base  of  brain,  we  would  name  blacksmithing — including 
carriage-ironing — bricklaying,  carpentry,  coopering,  iron- 
founding,  milling,  millwrighting,  tanning,  stone-cutting, 
stone  masonry,  mining,  farming,  lumbering,  and  sea-faring. 
Each  of  these  pursuits  demands  a  similar  general  bodily 


THE  BLACKSMITH.  31 

organization,  because  each  requires  bone  and  muscle, 
strength  and  energy,  hardiness  and  health — in  short,  the 
power  to  generate  vitality  by  converting  food  into  nour- 
ishment, thus  giving  muscular  force  and  constitutional 
vigor  to  perform  the  necessary  labor.  But  the  mental 
differences  required  for  a  first-class  blacksmith,  miller,  or 
farmer  might  cause  a  failure  in  one  or  all  if  their  vocations 
were  exchanged. 

BLACKSMITHING. 

We  regard  the  blacksmith  as  the  prince  of  mechanics. 
He  is  at  once  an  artist  and  a  mechanist.  He  who  can 
mold  a  statue,  having  in  his  mind  the  image,  while  the 
clay  is  yet  but  a  rude  mass,  and  knows  how  to  remove  the 
excrescent  parts,  and  mold  the  mass  into  the  requisite 
forms,  has  the  same  talent  which  the  blacksmith  requires, 
who  withdraws  from  the  forge  the  flaming  bar  of  metal 
and  is  required  to  mold  it  with  his  hammer  into  the  desired 
shape.  This  shape  must  exist  in  his  mind  as  the  statue 
does  in  the  mind  of  the  sculptor,  and  though  the  fact  of 
repeated  heavy  blows  seems  a  rude  way  of  working  out 
his  artistical  thought,  it  is  only  so  because  his  metal  is  less 
malleable  than  the  plastic  clay.  We  contend  that  who- 
ever can  be  a  first-class  blacksmith  could  be  also  an  artist 
in  clay  and  marble.  But  the  blacksmith,  in  order  to  re- 
duce the  firm  metal  to  the  form  required,  must  have  mus- 
cle, strength,  executiveness,  resolution,  thoroughness, 
power,  and,  if  we  may  say  it,  the  elements  of  fineness 
joined  with  the  elements  of  coarseness ;  the  elements  of 
taste  with  the  elements  of  strength. 

A  first-class  blacksmith  requires  to  be  a  first-class  man ; 


32  INDISPENSABLE  QUALITIES. 

• 

and  though  his  face  be  blackened  and  his  hands  hard,  he 
will  generally  be  found  with  a  fine,  strong  brain. 

We  are  speaking,  it  will  be  remembered,  of  the  first- 
class  blacksmith.  We  have  visited  large  factories  where 
edge-tools  were  manufactured,  and  in  the  examination  of 
a  hundred  or  two  of  the  forgers  we  have  found  them  to 
be  very  superior  men,  capable  of  taking  and  maintaining 
a  good  rank  in  any  field  of  industry  or  education.  In 
such  places  the  best  workmen  are  required.  Ample  com- 
pensation attracts  the  best  class.  Competition  weeds  out 
the  poorer,  and  presents  as  a  result  a  class  of  men  who 
are  an  honor  to  any  age  or  country. 

The  faculties  which  the  blacksmith  must  have,  in  order 
to  excel,  are,  large  Form,  to  give  the  idea  of  shape,  and 
enable  him  to  realize  the  form  required  in  the  iron  which 
is  hissing  on  his  anvil.  He  does  not,  like  the  carpenter, 
map  out  the  article  he  chooses  to  make,  and  hew  off  all 
the  unnecessary  parts,  but  molds  the  whole  mass  into  the 
thing  desired,  or  so  much  of  it  as  is  required,  wasting 
nothing.  He  must  have  the  organ  of  Size,  which  measures 
proportions  and  magnitudes,  and  so  nicely  is  this  faculty 
exercised,  that  rivets,  nails,  and  other  small  articles  that 
are  made  without  measurement,  will  be  found  almost 
exactly  alike  in  size  and  weight.  We  may  say  that  the 
wood-turner  also  requires  the  organs  of  Size  and  Form  in 
an  equal  degree  of  development  and  culture,  but  he  does 
not  require  so  much  imagination  or  creative  talent  as  the 
blacksmith. 

The  blacksmith  requires  Constructiveness,  to  give  him 
an  idea  of  mechanical  adaptation,  and  also  facility  in  the 


BLACKSMITH  THE  PKIJSTCE  OF  MECHANICS.    33 

use  of  tools.  He  must  understand  the  mechanical  laws 
which  are  involved  in  the  construction  of  the  thing  in 
hand,  and  the  mechanical  forces  required  to  produce  the 
desired  result.  He  needs  Ideality,  to  give  appreciation  of 
style,  beauty,  and  harmony,  and  to  aid  in  creating  the 
thing  in  his  mind's  eye,  before  the  iron  begins  to  take  form 
— in  short,  a  clear  conception  of  what  is  to  be  done  before 
it  is  commenced.  If  he  is  making  edge-tools,  and  has  to 
temper  them,  he  needs  the  faculty  of  Color,  to  appreciate 
the  requisite  shade  or  color  of  the  steel  when,  by  the  action 
of  heat,  the  temper  has  come  to  the  right  point. 

The  faculty  of  Imitation,  also,  enables  a  man  to  imitate 
his  own  processes  until  his  whole  body,  as  it  were,  becomes 
habituated  to  the  doing  of  a  particular  thing.  We  believe 
that  an  experienced  blacksmith,  if  he  would  work  a  month 
in  making  horse-nails,  or  knife-blades,  or  any  other  small 
affair,  would  become  so  accustomed  to  it,  that  he  could 
make  an  article  with  his  eyes  shut,  guided  by  the  sense  of 
feeling,  communicated  to  him  by  the  handle  of  his  hammer, 
and  by  his  sense  of  hearing — Imitation  aiding  if  not  lying 
at  the  bottom  of  this  state  of  facts.  In  other  words,  the 
process  becomes  automatic,  just  as  does  the  using  of  the 
knife  and  fork,  walking,  dressing  one's  self,  and  the  like. 

These,  then,  are  the  talents  required  by  this  most  useful 
of  mechanics.  We  say  most  useful,  because  he  not  only 
makes  his  own  tools,  but  the  tools  of  every  other  mechanic, 
or  the  tools  by  means  of  which  every  mechanic's  imple- 
ments are  constructed.  But  the  blacksmith  requires,  in 
addition  to  these  talents,  the  disposition,  as  well  as  the 
bodily  conditions,  to  qualify  him  for  his  work.  These 

2* 


34  THE  HOKSE-SHOEE. 

talents  might  be  possessed  by  the  watchmaker,  and,  in  the 
main,  ought  to  be.  But  the  blacksmith  must  have  the 
spirit  of  courage  imparted  by  Combativeness  and  Destruct- 
iveness ;  he  must  have  determination,  imparted  by  large 
Firmness.  He  must  be  what  the.  Germans  call  a  "  schmeiter," 
hence  "  schmidt," —  in  English,  smith.  Combativeness 
gives  this  disposition  to  smite.  A  man  in  whom  it  is 
large,  likes  to  do  all  his  work  with  a  blow  or  a  jerk.  He 
will  split  wood  or  chop  wood  rather  than  saw  it.  One 
with  less  Combativeness  prefers  the  drawing  stroke  of  the 
saw  rather  than  the  sudden  blow  of  an  axe.  Large  De- 
structiveness  gives  that  kind  of  efficient  force  and  severity, 
a  tendency  to  crush  and  batter,  that  the  trade  requires. 
The  stonecutter,  whose  business  is  largely  effected  by 
blows,  needs  also  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness. 
The  carpenter,  who  likes  to  use  the  axe,  the  adze,  and  the 
hammer,  will  be  found  amply  endowed  with  Combative- 
ness  and  Destructiveness. 

There  are  many  minor  qualities  which  tend  to  make  the 
blacksmith  successful  or  to  hinder  his  success,  such  as 
Cautiousness,  Approbativeness,  Self-Esteem,  Acquisitive- 
ness, Secretiveness, — all  the  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a 
judicious  and  influential  character  will  of  course  aid  the 
blacksmith,  as  it  would  a  man  in  any  other  trade  or 
occupation. 

The  blacksmith,  especially  the  horse-shoer,  should  have 
a  keen  sense  of  hearing,  because  in  driving  horse-shoe  nails 
he  is  chiefly  guided  by  the  sound  of  his  blows  as  to 
whether  the  nail  is  being  driven  into  the  sensitive  part 
of  the  foot  or  is  turning  out  of  the  hoof  at  the  proper 


85 

place  to  make  the  clinch.  When  the  hearing  becomes 
much  impaired,  the  horse-shoer  resigns  his  post,  or  pricks 
many  a  valuable  horse's  foot. 

Let  no  young  man,  then,  engage  in  blacksmithing  who 
has  not  an  energetic  physical  constitution  adapted  to  work 
hard.  He  should,  next,  have  enough  Combativeness  and 
Destructiveness  to  give  the  disposition  to  use  the  power 
he  possesses  and  strike  while  the  iron  is  hot,  and  such 
a  degree  of  firmness  and  steadfastness  as  will  enable 
him  to  use  his  power  persistently  until  the  iron  becomes 
cool.  He  should  have  a  broad,  deep  chest,  large  bones, 
brawny  muscles,  a  head  broad  in  the  region  of  the  ears, 
wide  at  the  temples,  broad  between  the  eyes,  with  a  prom- 
inent brow,  with  strong  if  not  coarse  hair,  and  rather  dark 
complexion.  Such  a  man  will  be  tough,  efficient,  enduring, 
and,  if  temperate,  successful 

CARRIAGE-IRONING. 

The  carriage-ironer  requires  talents,  and  constitutional 
peculiarities  resembling  those  of  the  common  blacksmith ; 
but  one  who  has  a  special  desire  for  niceness  and  taste,  and 
a  tendency  to  get  into  one  track  or  channel,  and  keep  in  it, 
will  succeed  in  the  carriage-ironing  business,  who  would 
not  be  able  or  willing  to  take  hold  of  general  blacksmith- 
ing,  where  there  are  no  two  jobs  in  succession  alike. 
Carriage-ironing  is  what  might  be  called  factory  work, 
where  many  things  in  succession  are  to  be  made  according 
to  a  given  pattern.  In  this  trade  dies  are  made  for  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  work  which  are  used  to  give  form  to 
particular  things,  and  thus  it  saves,  to  a  considerable 


36  IRON-FOUNDING. 

extent,  the  exercise  of  originality  and  skill.  To  a  certain 
extent  this  is  true  in  the  forging  of  cutlery  or  fine  machin- 
ery. But  one  who  can  be  a  first-rate  general  blacksmith 
will  do  better  in  this  department  than  one  who  can  work 
well  by  rule,  and  not  by  the  eye. 

IRON-FOUNDING. 

The  iron-founder  needs  also  a  strong  muscular  system, 
and  a  great  deal  of  constitutional  endurance,  especially  if 
he  has  much  heavy  lifting,  as  one  has  in  the  kind  of  work 
that  in  a  foundry  is  called  light.  When  the  work  is  very 
heavy,  the  lifting  is  done  by  ponderous  cranes,  or  machin- 
ery, which  makes  the  lifting  to  be  done  by  hand  compara- 
tively little. 

Iron-molding  requires  precision,  delicacy  of  touch  to 
prepare  the  sand  molds  for  the  final  casting.  It  requires 
great  caution,  especially  for  large  work,  to  strengthen  the 
molds  so  as  not  to  have  the  weight  of  the  iron  destroy 
them,  and  lose  thereby  a  great  deal  of  labor. 

Good  constructive  talent,  fair  Ideality,  large  perceptives, 
and  a  strong  base  of  brain  are  required  in  this  trade.  If 
one  is  an  iron-melter,  he  requires  some  knowledge  of 
chemistry  and  mineralogy.  Brass-founding,  and  the  cast- 
ing of  small  work,  requires  more  activity,  and  less 
strength, — rapidity,  rather  than  power  of  action. 

THE    MACHINIST. 

The  machinist  requires  good  constitutional  health  and 
vigor,  but  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  that  he  should  be 
a  very  strong  man,  though  it  is  better  that  he  should  be 


THE  MACHINIST.  37 

of  full  size  and  average  vigor.  There  are  somo,  depart- 
ments of  this  trade  in  which  an  extra  amount  of  physical 
power  is  useful ;  but  as  men  of  this  trade  generally  work 
in  groups,  it  is  not  essential  that  all  should  be  even  of 
average  strength.  The  head  rather  than  the  muscles  is 
the  great  desideratum.  All  the  perceptive  organs  should 
be  amply  developed  with  a  full  degree  of  the  reasoning 
powers,  and  large  Const ructiveness  and  Ideality.  More- 
over, the  machinist  should  have  large  Cautiousness,  so  that 
he  will  work  carefully  on  account  of  the  importance  of  the 
work  on  which  they  are  engaged,  and  also  on  personal 
accounts.  Many  machinists  get  their  fingers  caught,  and 
lose  them.  Some  lose  an  arm  or  a  leg  by  getting  drawn 
into  the  machinery  used  in  working  at  their  trade. 

To  take  a  good  rank  in  this  vocation,  one  needs  the 
drawing  talent,  so  that  he  can  make  complete  drawings  for 
the  construction  of  engines  or  any  other  machinery.  If 
he  have  the  talent  to  make  the  drawings,  he  will  the  more 
readily  understand  those  which  may  be  furnished  him  to 
work  by.  The  machinist,  in  heavy  work,  requires  large- 
ness and  strength  of  mind — a  kind  of  intellectual  courage  to 
grapple  with  the  ponderous  work ;  but  in  the  heavier  kinds 
of  work,  such  as  turning  shafts  for  steamships,  the  personal 
labor  is  not  very  hard,  because  the  heavy  pieces,  weighing 
sometimes  many  tons,  are  lifted  for  adjustment  by  means 
of  machinery  called  the  "  crane."  When  such  a  piece  of 
iron  is  once  placed  in  the  engine-lathe  for  boring  or  turn- 
ing, there  are  sometimes  many  days'  work  to  be  done  with- 
out any  change  being  required.  But  in  turning  car  axles 
the  manual  labor  is  harder,  because  two  men  can  lift  one 


38  MACHINIST'S  TKADE  POPULAR. 

of  them,  and  adjust  it  in  the  lathe.  The  machinist,  like 
the  iron-founder,  works  easiest  who  has  the  heaviest  work 
to  do.  That  which  is  called  light  iron  work  is  hard  for 
the  men.  The  blacksmith  who  makes  horse-nails  is  ham- 
mering almost  all  the  time,  and  it  is  absolutely  harder 
labor  than  it  would  be  to  make  horse  shoes,  axes,  or  har- 
row teeth,  because  three  quarters  of  the  tune  would  be 
required  to  heat  the  iron  on  the  larger  work.  In  the  light 
work  of  the  machinist  the  jobs  are  short,  and  the  labor  of 
lifting  and  adjusting  the  articles  occurs  frequently. 

POPULARITY   OF  THE   TRADE. 

To  be  a  machinist,  one  need  not  expect  to  become  head 
of  the  business  unless  he  have  very  superior  ability.  It  is 
considered  a  popular  or  desirable  trade,  because  the  steam- 
fire  engine  or  the  machinery  of  a  steamboat  or  locomotive 
being  polished  and  handsome,  and  working  so  nicely, 
attracts  the  attention  of  boys,  and  leads  them  to  feel  a 
desire  to  construct  them.  And  when  they  have  become 
harnessed  to  a  business,  it  is  not  very  easy  for  them  to 
retire.  Since,  then,  so  many  bright,  intelligent  boys  rush 
to  this  trade,  the  competition  for  high  positions  is  very 
sharp,  and  one  can  not  rise  to  rule  a  shop  filled  with  such 
persons  unless  he  has  ability  to  rule  anything,  and  rise 
anywhere.  If  he  does  become  head  man,  he  is  all  the 
more  confined.  Indeed,  it  then  becomes  imprisonment. 
The  common  hand  can  be  off  for  a  day  without  disturbing 
everything,  but  a  foreman  must  be  first  on  the  ground  and 
last  to  leave,  and  every  sense  and  talent  he  possesses  must 
be  on  the  alert. 


NOT  EASILY  ESTABLISHED.  39 

The  machinist  should  also  be  patient,  willing  to  submit 
to  the  rules  and  controlling  power  of  his  superiors ;  should 
be  willing  to  work  for  a  company  that  does  not  know  him 
from  a  stranger,  and  that  cares  no  more  for  him  than  for  a 
stranger. 

NOT   EASILY   ESTABLISHED. 

We  do  not  recommend  young  men  to  rush  into  this 
trade,  because  it  is  generally  fully  stocked,  and  the  busi- 
ness is  coming  to  be  conducted  by  heavy  firms,  where  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  are  required  to  start  it ;  hence 
one  can  hardly  hope  to  become  owner  so  as  to  be  master 
of  his  own  time  and  talent.  Therefore,  if  a  machinist 
have  independence,  love  of  liberty,  and  a  disposition  to  be 
his  own  master,  he  will  fret  and  chafe  under  the  restraint 
of  going  to  a  shop  by  the  bell,  and  being  ranked  as  one 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  being  practically  like  a 
single  picket  in  a  string  of  fence,  or  one  of  the  cogs  of  a 
large  wheel,  with  his  individuality  almost  lost.  Such  a 
man  should  stay  away  from  that  business ;  he  will  make 
trouble  as  long  as  he  stays  in  a  shop,  and  be  likely  to  go 
out  of  it  in  disgust  at  the  very  time  when  he  should  be 
laying  the  foundations  of  his  fortune.  If  a  young  man 
had  half  enough  money  to  start  a  machine  shop,  we  should 
advise  him  by  all  means  to  start  some  other  business, 
equally  respectable  and  remunerative. 

TIN    AND    STOVE    BUSINESS. 

will  always  be  good,  and  will  furnish  to  the  good  work- 
man as  much  pay  as  a  machinist  of  equal  talent  can  com- 
mand. We  are  aware  that  boys  acquire  a  disgust  for  this 


40  TIN  AND  STOVE  BUSINESS. 

trade  from  the  traveling  tinker  who  cries  "Tin-ware  to 
mend ! "  and  they  fancy  that  the  regular  tinsmith  is  only 
a  prosperous  tinker. 

EASILY   SET   UP. 

There  are  many  advantages  in  this  trade,  some  of  which 
we  will  mention.  It  requires  but  little  money,  say  five 
hundred  dollars,  to  start  it  in  a  small  way,  and  at  the  end 
of  one  year  after  beginning,  a  prudent  young  man  might 
safely  marry  and  establish  housekeeping  on  a  modest  and 
prudent  scale.  We  believe  that  a  trade  which  will  permit 
a  young  man  to  start  for  himself  easily,  and  insure  the 
support  of  a  family  within  three  or  four  years  from  the 
time  he  ends  his  apprenticeship,  is  best  calculated  to  build 
up  good  citizenship,  and  keep  young  men  in  the  path  of 
virtue  and  morality.  Thus  established,  he  can  work  alone, 
and  customers  will  come  to  him  for  his  wares.  As  his 
business  increases,  he  will  take  an  apprentice,  then  a  jour- 
neyman; he  begins  to  sell  stoves  on  commission,  and  in 
ten  years,  with  temperance,  industry,  and  skill,  he  will  be 
likely  to  have  in  his  employment  ten  or  a  dozep  hands, 
and  a  stove  warehouse  with  a  profitable  trade.  He  does 
tin-roofing,  he  makes  the  boilers  and  furniture  for  stoves, 
constructs  the  pipe,  and  sets  up  stoves  where  they  are  to 
be  used.  Whatever  is  required  in  his  line  of  business  can 
not  be  done  even  by  ingenious  families.  They  must  send 
to  the  shop  and  pay  the  tinsmith  for  doing  the  work. 

TIME   FULLY   OCCUPIED. 

Another  valuable  feature  of  this  and  similar  trade*  is. 


WHAT  is  BEST  FOE  POOK  YOUNG  MEN.     41 

that  in  dull  times,  or  stormy  days,  when  no  orders  come 
in,  the  mechanic  can  be  working  up  stock  into  staple  arti- 
cles which  soon  must  be  wanted,  thus  filling  up  every  hour 
of  the  time,  so  that  when  orders  come  rushing  in,  the 
pans,  kettles,  stove  furniture,  stovepipe,  and  leader-pipe 
shall  be  ready  when  wanted.  This  keeps  a  man  with 
small  Hope  and  large  Cautiousness  in  good  heart  through 
days  which  otherwise  would  be  dark,  besides  being  ready 
with  material  to  rush  business  when  it  comes,  as  it  were,  all 
in  a  heap.  A  business  which  must  always  wart  for  orders 
is  likely  to  be  either  a  feast  too  abundant  to  be  available, 
or  a  famine  too  severe  to  be  good  for  mind,  body,  or 
estate.  Moreover,  a  tradesman  who  has  idle  time  is  very 
likely  to  get  into  bad  company  and  adopt  dissipated  hab- 
its. We  can  not  imagine  that  this  trade  shall  by  any 
means  be  run  out,  as  some  others  have  been  by  the  use  of 
machinery,  and  tinware  is  not  likely  to  be  superseded 
by  anything  equally  light  and  durable. 

WHAT   IS   BEST  FOR  POOK   YOUNG  MEN. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  a  small  business,  and  we  re- 
ply that  that  is  the  best  business  on  an  average  for  young 
men,  which  can  be  set  up  in  a  small  way,  such  as  black- 
smithing  and  carpentry,  for  be  it  remembered  that  only  a 
few  are  competent  to  start  a  large  factory,  even  though 
they  have  the  means  at  command.  They  would  not  have 
the  comprehensive  talent  to  employ  two  or  three  hundred 
men.  Besides,  large  fortunes  are  only  to  be  anticipated 
by  few,  and  the  trade  which  a  young  man  can  learn  before 
he  is  of  age,  and  within  two  years  get  started,  and  in  a 


42  PLUMBING  AND  GASFITTING. 

year  or  two  more  be  settled  in  life, — a  trade  in  which  he 
can  accumulate  enough  to  educate  his  children  and  make 
himself  comfortable  in  his  declining  years,  must  be  regard- 
ed as  an  excellent  field  for  a  young  man. 

All  can  not  be  captains  who  would  be  soldiers,  and  all 
can  not  be  at  the  head  of  rich  establishments.  The  great 
working  world  must  hammer  out  its  success  by  individual 
effort,  and  this  the  tinsmith  can  do.  We  have  known 
some,  who,  having  talent  for  it,  and  beginning  in  the 
stove  line,  worked  into  the  iron-foundry  business,  and 
made  large  fortunes.  But  if  young  men  wait  to  find  a 
business  in  which  large  fortunes  are  pretty  sure,  it  will  be 
like  waiting  for  a  decision  in  the  English  Court  of  Chan- 
cery— fruitless. 

PLUMBING    AND    GASFITTING. 

This  business  embraces  practically  two  trades,  though 
they  are  now  generally  united.  Like  tin  smithing,  it  re- 
quires energy,  industry,  practical  talent,  and  financial 
judgment.  The  plumber  and  gasfitter  should  be  a  man 
of  good  judgment,  for  he  has  to  take  his  contracts  by  esti- 
mation. He  should  be  able  to  calculate  within  a  few 
dollars  what  it  will  cost  to  supply  a  house  with  gas-fittings, 
or  to  do  the  plumbing.  Then  he  can  make  a  close  esti- 
mate, and  secure  contracts  where  the  competition  is  sharp, 
and  be  wise  enough  not  to  take  business  at  too  low  a 
price. 

He  should  also  be  a  man  of  integrity,  so  that  he  will 
feel  bound  to  do  the  work  well,  though  the  owner  may  be 
miles  away,  absorbed  in  his  business  affairs.  He  should 


SOUND  JUDGMENT  AND  INTEGRITY  REQUIRED.  43 

be  careful  to  promise  no  faster  than  he  can  work.  Some- 
times plumbers  pull  up  old  work,  and  leave  a  house  three 
days  without  water.  They  do  it  simply  to  secure  the 
work.  They  sometimes  promise  to  do  a  job  of  repairing, 
and  it  will  be  perhaps  three  days  or  a  week  before  they 
make  their  appearance,  greatly  to  the  disgust  and  incon- 
venience of  the  family  interested.  This  should  be  re- 
formed altogether.  Such  men  deserve  to  be  neglected 
and  driven  out  of  the  business,  for  there  is  nothing  more 
annoying  than  a  leaky  gas-pipe,  which  half  an  hour's  labor 
would  correct,  or  leaky  water-pipes,  or  pipes  in  any  way 
out  of  order.  A  man  who  is  honest  enough  to  say,  "  I  can 
not  do  this  work  for  two  days,"  and  thus  perhaps  sends 
his  customer  temporarily  to  somebody  else,  will  deserve 
the  man's  patronage  when  he  is  at  leisure  to  do  his  work. 

This  trade  requires  a  good  deal  of  mechanical  ingenuity, 
good  taste,  and  good  judgment  in  many  respects,  espe- 
cially in  delivering  gas  or  water  wherever  it  may  be  re- 
quired with  the  least  possible  expenditure  of  pipe.  Some 
men  waste  their  profits  by  a  lack  of  good  calculation  in 
this  respect.  A  quick  eye  and  a  quick  hand  are  required 
in  this  trade.  In  "  wiping  joints  "  on  lead  pipe  artistic 
facility  and  quickness  are  required.  If  by  slowness  or 
awkwardness  the  workman  make  a  failure,  he  may  lose 
an  hour's  time,  when  ten  minutes  is  ample  for  him  to  do 
the  work  in  hand.  So  much  of  it  is  light  and  requiring 
exactness,  that  if  it  be  not  rapidly  handled,  much  time  is 
wasted.  .  In  lifting  heavy  blocks  of  stone  into  walls,  in 
placing  great  beams  in  structures,  in  making  a  great  cast- 
ing in  a  foundry,  or  lifting  a  heavy  shaft  into  a  lathe  to  be 


44  BRASS  FINISHING. 

turned,  slowness  may  be  tolerated ;  but  in  putting  up  gas- 
fittings,  a  quick  motion  will  double  a  man's  value.  In  a 
light  trade,  where  there  are  many  little  things  to  be  handled 
and  adjusted,  one  quick  man  will  sometimes  do  as  much 
as  two  clumsy,  strong  men ;  and  this  activity  will  of  itself 
be  a  sufficient  margin  fo.r  profit. 

BRASS    FINISHING. 

The  brass  finisher  requires  more  artistic  taste  than  me- 
chanical talent.  He  needs  a  good  eye  for  proportion,  for 
he  has  to  shape  things  of  graceful  form  by  the  eye  and  the 
judgment.  He  must  make  nice  curves,  neat  finish,  and 
stylish  work,  and  there  are  no  prescribed  lines  or  marks 
which  he  can  employ  as  a  guide  to  complete  his  work. 
Like  paring  off  the  sole  of  a  boot,  it  has  to  be  done  by  a 
sense  of  that  which  is  graceful  in  form  and  proportion. 
The  carpenter  can  draw  his  straight  lines  or  angles,  and 
cut  to  the  line,  and  call  it  finished,  but  the  last-maker,  the 
axe-helve  maker,  he  who  makes  gun-stocks,  or  finishes 
brass  work,  must  have  an  excellent  development  of  Order, 
Size,  Form,  and  Ideality,  and  large  perceptives  generally. 
He  needs  also  to  be  rapid  in  motion,  and  quick  to  see,  and 
should  have  a  fine  and  active  temperament. 

BRICKLAYING. 

The  bricklayer,  though  requiring  less  power  than  the 
blacksmith,  stone-mason,  or  stone-cutter,  requires  a  mathe- 
matical mind.  His  work  belongs  to  the  domain  of  geom- 
etry. He  has  straight  lines  and  particular  angles  to  con- 
sider. He  must  judge  of  the  straight,  the  angular,  and 


BRICKLAYING.  45 

the  plumb.  He  has  arches  to  construct,  but  the  carpenter 
generally  builds  the  form  on  which  the  arch  is  laid.  The 
construction  of  the  arch  form,  however,  really  belongs 
to  the  mason,  though,  for  convenience,  the  wood- worker 
builds  it. 

The  bricklayer  must  also  study  the  chemical  laws  of 
the  composition  of  mortar,  the  strength  of  materials,  and 
the  law  of  pressure  and  resistance  in  reference  to  arches 
and  their  abutments.  He  needs  especially  to  be  quick  in 
eye,  and  to  have  large  Individuality,  so  that  his  perception 
of  the  condition  of  things  will  be  quick  and  correct.  He 
needs  large  perceptives  generally,  so  that  form,  proportion, 
weight,  or  plumb  shall  be  appreciated  instantly.  He  should 
be  active  in  muscle,  rather  than  strong  or  brawny,  so 
that  every  motion  shall  be  prompt,  ready,  and  decisive. 
He  needs  to  lay  out  comparatively  little  strength  at  each 
particular  effort,  but  he  wants  that  muscular  power  at 
hand,  that  he  may  promptly  repeat  his  motions  a  thousand 
times  an  hour.  His  temperament  should  be  more  active 
than  is  required  for  the  stone-cutter,  stone-mason,  black- 
smith, or  hewer  of  timber,  so  that  his  mind  shall  work 
rapidly.  As  he  has  ten  thousand  decisions  to  make  as  to 
direction,  levelness,  and  plumbness  in  a  single  day,  the 
workman  succeeds  best  who  can  decide  these  little  ques- 
tions most  rapidly  and  correctly.  We  notice  some  masons 
who  will  deliberate  and  look,  and  not  get  a  brick  right  at 
last.  Others  will  give  a  rap  or  two  with  their  trowel 
and  the  work  is  straight,  level,  plumb,  and  right,  and 
their  walls  look  trim  and  handsome.  Others  will  lay  their 
work  badly,  the  whole  wall  being  twisted,  and  each  brick 


46  STONE  MASONEY. 

having  a  direction  of  its  own,  irrespective  of  the  others, 
looking  as  if  it  lay  uneasily  in  the  wall.  One  may  see,  in 
riding  through  a  farming  region,  where  an  inexperienced 
wall-layer  has  been  laying  a  stone  fence ;  there  is  a  kind 
of  tumble-down  look  to  it, — no  two  stones  seem  to  have 
any  harmonious  relation  to  each  other,  and  the  whole  wall 
looks  cobbled  up;  while  a  wall  evenly  laid,  in  proper 
rows,  even  of  common  rough  stone,  will  have  points  of 
harmony  and  propriety  of  appearance  as  if  it  only 
required  a  little  mortar  to  make  it  a  finished  job. 

The  bricklayer  requires  large  Weight,  to  understand 
the  law  of  gravitation,  so  that  he  can  quickly  see  when  a 
wall  or  a  single  brick  is  plumb.  Some  men  will  run  up  a 
corner  by  the  eye  alone ;  another  will  be  using  his  plumb- 
rule  half  the  time,  working  hard  and  long  to  get  his  wall 
vertical.  This  faculty  of  "Weight  is  also  required  to 
give  him  steadiness  in  climbing  and  working  on  high  scaf- 
folding without  being  dizzy;  so  this  faculty,  while  it 
enables  him  to  do  his  work  properly,  gives  him  a  steady 
head  in  high  situations. 

The  bricklayer,  therefore,  requires  less  Combativeness, 
Destructiveness,  Firmness,  and  Self-Esteem  than  the  black- 
smith. He  may  have  a  more  active  temperament,  because 
his  work  is  done  by  quick  motions,  and  he  does  not  require 
to  use  a  great  deal  of  strength  at  any  one  time. 

STOSTE    MASONRY. 

The  stone-mason  requires  a  sense  of  the  perpendicular, 
the  same  as  the  bricklayer,  but  does  not  need  so  active 
temperament,  nor  so  prompt  and  positive  muscular  action 


a 


QUALITIES  KEQTJIRED.  47 

His  work  is  heavier :  he  needs  more  bone  and  muscle ;  he 
should  have  a  true  eye,  a  correct  sense  of  strength  and 
of  the  law  of  pressure;  he  needs  large  Combativeness, 
Destructiveness,  and  Firmness,  and  especially  a  large 
organ  of  Size,  for  he  breaks  stones  to  fit  particular  places, 
or  selects  those  that  are  already  of  the  right  size.  It  is 
interesting  to  watch  a  stone-mason,  and  see  with  what  ac- 
curacy his  eye  leads  him  to  his  decisions. 

He  should  not  have  an  excitable  temperament,  but  a 
cool,  steady  disposition,  that  he  may  not  fret  and  worry 
and  strain  himself  by  over-lifting.  The  brick-mason  may 
hurry,  and  he  can  hardly  overwork;  and  we  believe  that 
of  a  hundred  energetic  bricklayers,  there  would  not  be 
one-tenth  as  many  broken-down  men  as  there  would  be  in 
an  equal  number  of  stone-masons.  Men  can  get  tired 
handling  brick  and  using  the  trowel,  but  they  can  not 
very  well  strain  themselves.  But  the  stone-mason,  who 
sometimes  handles  stone  weighing  from  one  hundred  to  five 
hundred  pounds  or  more,  is  very  liable  to  overlift,  espe- 
cially if  he  has  a  light  frame,  sharp  features,  and  an  excit- 
able temperament. 

To  be  fit  for  his  business,  he  should  have  broad  should- 
ers, a  strong,  sturdy  back,  large  arms  and  legs,  thick, 
bony  hands,  a  broad  face,  large  features,  a  broad 
head,  and  square  forehead.  Such  a  man  will  have 
sound  judgment,  executive  force,  endurance,  and  power, 
without  that  excitability  which  leads  to  rashness  and 
overworking.  The  very  business  leads  a  man  to  slow 
motions.  The  stone-mason  moves  like  an  ox,  the  brick- 
mason  like  a  sprightly  horse,  and  persons  for  these  trades 


48  STONECUTTING. 

should  be  selected  with  a  view  to  the  claims  of  the  trades 
upon  them  respectively.  When  we  see  a  thin-skinned, 
fine-haired,  sharp-featured,  sensitive  man  working  as  a 
stone-mason,  we  think  of  a  light  road-horse  harnessed  to 
a  plow,  or  a  heavy  truck,  each  being  equally  out  of  place, 
and  a  candidate  for  being  early  broken  down  from  strains 
and  exhaustion.  Many  a  man  would  work  forty  years, 
and  retain  his  health  as  a  brick-mason,  when  he  would  be 
used  up  in  five  years  as  a  stone-mason ;  and  many  a  great, 
square,  heavy,  slow  man  engaged  in  bricklaying  would  be 
unpopular  because  so  slow,  and  be  left  out  of  employment, 
except  when  help  were  scarce  and  work  pressing,  who, 
if  he  were  put  into  stone  masonry,  would  be  the  man  of 
men  for  that  position  ;  on  the  same  principle  that  a  heavy, 
strong  truck-horse,  being  harnessed  to  a  light  wagon, 
where  speed  is  required,  would  be  fretted  and  worried  by 
the  haste  and  hurry,  and  perform  very  unsatisfactory  ser- 
vice after  all. 

"  The  right  man  in  the  right  place,"  is  a  good  motto. 
Everybody  knows  the  law  of  having  the  right  horse  in  the 
right  place,  and  men  are  wise  enough,  generally,  to  classify 
horses  for  the  particular  service  required.  Why  should 
not  men  be  classified  with  equal  wisdom  ? 

STONECUTTISTG. 

This  trade  requires  a  strong  development  of  the  Mo- 
tive and  Vital  temperaments ;  the  first  to  give  bone  and 
muscle,  the  second  to  give  strong  lungs,  good  digestion, 
and  a  desire  for  physical  exertion,  with  steam  to  carry 
it  out. 


STONECUTTER'S  CONSUMPTION.  49 

The  mental  requisites  for  this  occupation  are  Combat- 
iveness,  Destructiveness,  Firmness,  and  Continuity;  the 
two  former  to  do  the  smiting  and  give  a  willingness  to 
exercise  the  strength  requisite ;  the  Firmness  and  Conti- 
nuity to  give  steadfastness,  strength  of  purpose,  and  patient 
application.  He  requires,  also,  a  large  development  of  the 
organs  of  Form  and  Size,  to  give  a  taste  for  shape  and  pro- 
portion, and  an  ample  development  of  Weight,  to  regulate 
the  necessary  force  of  the  blows,  and  to  give  a  straight 
eye,  as  required  by  the  brick-mason.  Although  the  stone- 
cutter has  lines  to  work  by,  they  are  simply  outlines ;  he 
has  to  be  guided  very  much  after  all  by  his  eye  to  work 
out  the  required  shapes,  and  to  know  when  his  work  is 
well  done.  No  man  with  weak  lungs  should  ever  attempt 
this  business,  because  the  air-passages  are  apt  to  get  filled 
up  with  stone-dust,  and  there  is  a  tendency  to  what  is 
called  "  stonecutter's  consumption."  Those  who  live  much 
in  the  dust  of  grindstones,  as  in  the  grinding-room  of  axe 
factories,  often  get  the  pulmonary  passages  so  filled  with 
grit  and  steel  dust  combined,  that  the  substance  of  the 
lungs  after  death  will  weigh  almost  as  heavy  as  stone,  and 
the  air-passages  are  filled  with  solidified  mineral  matter, 
resembling  branch  coral.  No  man,  therefore,  should  un- 
dertake stonecutting  or  grinding  in  an  axe,  scythe,  or  tool 
factory  who  has  not  a  great  deal  of  lung  room  to  spare, 
for  ten  years  of  such  service  finishes  a  man.  Twenty 
years  ago  five  years'  time  was  the  average  for  using  up 
axe-grinders.  They  earned  great  wages,  to  be  sure,  but 
such  a  recompense  was  no  fair  equivalent  for  such  sacri- 
fice. Capital  does  not  always  properly  protect  labor. 

3 


50  COOPER— MlLLWEIGHT. 

Efforts  are  making  by  means  of  exhaustive  currents  of 
air  to  carry  away  the  dust  of  stone  and  steel,  and  thereby 
save  the  health  of  the  grinders. 

COOPERING. 

The  cooper  needs-  a  robust  constitution,  strong  shoulders 
and  arms,  and  a  good  Vital  temperament,  to  give  ardor 
and  industry,  and  a  fair  degree  of  endurance.  He  needs 
especially  the  organs  of  Form  and  Size,  because  he  has  to 
work  by  the  eye.  He  does  not  lay  a  rule  on  in  the  shaving 
and  jointing  of  his  staves,  but  has  to  taper  .them  from  the 
middle  both  ways,  and  have  the  bevel  or  the  edge  vary 
according  to  the  tapering  form  of  the  cask,  so  that  the 
edges  of  the  staves  will  make  a  tight  joint  inside  and  out- 
side; consequently,  the  edge  has  to  twist  slightly,  gradu- 
ally changing  its  bevel,  and  one  who  has^  skill  in  this  will 
shape  these  edges  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  outside 
and  inside  of  a  vessel  seem  to  be  solid  wood  where  the 
joints  come  together.  A  carpenter  would  not  be  able  to 
make  such  joints.  The  cooper  will  thus  shave  and  taper 
the  staves  for  a  cask  by  the  eye  only,  and  when  set  up,  the 
two  ends  of  the  cask  will  not  vary  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter. 

MILLWRIGHTING. 

The  millwright  is  a  machinist  and  a  carpenter  combined 
• — the  constructor  of  ponderous  machinery  partly  of  wood 
and  partly  of  iron,  that  does  not  require  to  be  so  very 
nice,  He  who  constructs  a  steam-engine  must  be  an  art- 


CAKPEKTRY.  61 

1st,  as  compared  with  a  millwright.  He  ranks  as  the  cab- 
inet-maker does  in  comparison  with  the  carpenter.  His 
engine  must  run  easily,  and  yet  so  snugly  as  not  to  make 
a  noise  in  its  revolutions.  "VVe  have  stood  by  the  side  of 
an  engine  of  a  hundred-horse  power,  in  the  U.  S.  Armory, 
and  when  it  was  running  at  full  speed,  driving  a  whole 
establishment,  only  the  creaking  of  the  leather  belt  could 
be  heard,  as  there  was  no  jerking,  no  pounding,  and  no 
friction  that  created  noise. 

Whoever  proposes  to  learn  any  of  these  trades  should 
be  well  endowed  with  the  Motive  and  Vital  temperaments, 
that  he  may  have  the  strength,  energy,  enterprise,  and 
courage  necessary  to  fill  his  position  well.  Thin,  nervous 
people  should  keep  away  from  these  vocations,  for  they 
will  be  third-rate  in  execution,  and  in  the  amount  of  work 
they  will  do,  though  they  may  have  the  requisite  skill  to 
succeed  in  doing  good  work. 

CARPENTRY. 

The  carpenter,  in  addition  to  general  strength,  force  of 
character,  Firmness,  and  Self-Esteem,  requires  large  Inhab- 
itiveness,  to  give  him  a  relish  .for  houses  and  homes.  He 
needs  good  Constructiveness,  large  Order,  Calculation,  tal- 
ent for  geometry  and  drawing,  including  Size  and  Form, 
but  does  not  require  Weight  or  the  sense  of  propulsion  and 
motion  to  qualify  him  passably  for  his  work,  though  Weight 
is  useful  in  setting  work  plumb  by  the  eye  and  keeping  his 
balance  in  high  situations.  The  wagon-maker,  the  ma- 
chinist, the  millwright,  the  gunsmith,  and  locksmith  must 


52  MILLING. 

construct  that  which  moves  on  itself,  and  they  require  the 
faculty  of  Weight  and  Constructiveness,  and  a  large  de- 
gree of  Ideality  in  addition. 

The  carpenter  has  now  an  easier  task  than  formerly, 
when  all  the  planing,  match-grooving,  all  the  moldings, 
mortising,  and  .tenoning  for  sash  and  doors  must  be  done 
by  hand ;  now  he  has  little  to  do  but  put  up  the  work. 
Up  to  1835  there  was  hardly  such  a  thing  known  as  a 
planing,  sawing,  grooving,  or  mortising  machine.  What  a 
slow  and  hard  job  it  was  to  plane  all  the  clapboards,  floor- 
boards, all  the  stuff  for  doors,  sash,  casings,  and  mold- 
ings, after  having  ripped  them  out  with  a  hand-saw !  Then 
it  required  bone  and  muscle.  No  wonder  the  "joiner 
came  and  never  went  away  "  when  a  new  house  was  being 
built. 

CABINET-MAKING. 

The  cabinet-maker  is  a  kind  of  artistic  carpenter.  He 
does  fine  work,  makes  close  joints,  and  requires  taste, 
Order,  and  a  finer  temperament  than  the  mere  carpenter, 
for  he  has  to  polish  his  work,  and  make  it,  as  it  were,  air- 
tight, sometimes  constructing  joints  that  deceive  even  the 
eye,  though  it  is  said  that  blind  people  will  find  them  by 
the  touch. 

MILLING. 

In  small  "  custom  "  mills  the  miller  needs  a  great  deal 
of  strength,  to  handle  the  bags ;  and  he  should  be  ingeni- 
ous, for  he  has  to  understand  all  the  gearing  and  machinery 
of  his  mill,  and,  in  the  main,  keep  it  in  running  condition. 


BUTCHERING.  63 

In  a  large  flouring  establishment,  milling  is  more  of  a 
science,  requiring  nicer  adjustments,  the  appreciation  of 
complicated  processes,  and  machinery  to  produce  them ; 
also  certain  chemical  and  mechanical  laws  which  are  not 
much  required  in  the  small  country  mills.  In  these  large 
establishments,  the  lifting  is  chiefly  done  by  the  elevator. 
Still,  a  man  in  such  a  concern  should  be  energetic  in  dis- 
position, and  have  a  good  degree  of  strength  and  willing- 
ness to  be  industrious  when  occasion  requires  the  use  of 
active  energy. 

BUTCHERING. 

The  butcher  requires  not  only  a  robust  constitution  and 
a  great  deal  of  strength  and  activity ;  he  requires  strong 
muscles,  and  a  vim  and  resolution  which  amount  almost 
to  fierceness  when  aroused.  We  seldom  find  a  successful 
butcher,  and  one  who  enjoys  his  pursuit,  that  has  not  rather 
large  Destructiveness.  If  he  were  weak  in  this  respect, 
he  would  break  down  when  the  calm  eye  of  the  ox  or  the 
sheep  met  his  own,  just  as  he  was  to  deal  the  fatal  blow. 

The  butcher  requires  ingenuity,  skill,  and  facility  of 
touch.  If  one  doubts  it,  let  him  try  with  the  long,  sharp 
knife  to  separate  the  hide  from  the  flesh,  and  see  how  he 
will  cut  the  one  or  hack  the  other.  A  skilled  butcher 
handles  his  knife  very  deftly,  though  it  has  a  savage  look, 
and,  watching  him,  we  discover  a  grace  in  his  motions,  and 
in  the  results.  For  a  man  to  take  off  the  hide  and  dress  a 
j-li< •(•}>  in  two  minutes  by  the  clock,  he  requires  not  only 
practical  skill,  but  great  energy.  For  two  men  to  slaughter 
an  ox,  and  hang  up  the  quarters  ready  for  market  in  four- 


54  TANNING  AND  CURKYING. 

teen  minutes,  is  quick  work,  requiring  skill,  energy,  and 
experience ;  and  as  long  as  men  require  flesh  meat,  butch- 
ering must  be  considered  a  trade. 

We  said  to  a  stranger  under  our  hands,  that  having  such 
a  development  of  Form,  Size,  and  Weight,  if  he  were  accus- 
tomed to  buy  cattle  for  slaughter,  he  would  go  through  a 
yard  containing  a  hundred  oxen  and  estimate  their  weight 
so  as  not  to  vary  ten  pounds  each  from  their  true  weight. 
He  replied  that  he  could  do  better  than  that,  for  the  week 
before  he  had  thus  estimated  a  drove  of  107  oxen,  vary- 
ing from  900  Ibs.  to  1,800  Ibs.  each,  and  it  was  found  by  the 
scales  that  his  estimate  was  less  than  five  pounds  each 
from  the  weight.  Not  that  he  estimated  each  ox  within  ' 
five  pounds,  but  it  averaged  nearer  than  that  on  the  lot. 

To  cut  up  and  sell  meat  one  should  have  skill  and 
strength ;  a  correct  appreciation  of  Size  and  Weight,  to 
estimate  the  amount  required.  He  should  have  patience 
and  integrity  and  punctuality,  and  he  will  win  and  keep 
customers  and  secure  success.  For  health  and  an  ample 
reward  for  industry  and  good  judgment  this  is  an  excellent 
business.  We  have  never  known  a  thorough,  energetic, 
sensible,  and  temperate  man  to  fail  in  it, 

TANNING    AND    CURRYING. 

The  tanner  requires  long  arms  and  a  strong  back;  a 
clear  head,  good  judgment  of  Form  and  Size  and  Color. 
He  should  be  something  of  a  chemist,  to  comprehend  the 
nature  of  his  work  and  adapt  him  to  its  proper  perform- 
ance. Tanning  has  become  a  great  business,  and  is  done 


THE  SEAMAN.  55 

on  a  large  scale,  requiring  a  comprehensive  business  talent 
in  those  who  conduct  it,  and  practical  skill  in  those  who 
do  the  work.  Machinery  is  so  largely  used  of  late  that 
the  tanner  needs  to  have  in  good  measure  the  knowledge 
and  skill  of  the  millwright  and  machinist.  The  depart- 
ment of  leather-dressing  requires  skill  of  hand  and  clear- 
ness of  judgment.  The  skiving  or  shaving  of  leather  is  a 
very  nice  job,  and  the  best  work  of  that  kind  is  done  by 
hand.  The  calfskin  for  boots  needs  to  be  shaved  down  to 
an  equal  thickness.  The  cowhide  for  carriage-tops  must 
also  be  thus  shaved  with  great  care  by  hand,  and  the  sense 
of  touch  to  determine  the  thickness,  and  the  sense  of  feel- 
ing to  know  how  deep  the  instrument  is  cutting,  the  sense 
of  siglit  to  watch  it  carefully,  Acquire  a  keen,  sharp,  inge- 
nious head.  Only  a  few  men  in  a  hundred  can  do  this  kind 
of  work  well,  and  they  generally  command  great  wages. 
The  organs  of  Form,  Size,  Weight,  Comparison,  Order, 
Color,  and  Constructivcness  in  a  higher  degree  of  strength 
and  activity  are  required  by  the  leather-dresser,  whose 
vocation  practically  belongs  to  the  business  called  tanning. 

THE    SEAMAN. 

In  reference  to  sea-faring,  there  is,  in  the  minds  of  most 
persons,  a  certain  wild,  romantic  idea.  Poets  have  sung 
of  the  sea;  of  its  might  and  its  mystery,  of  its  silence 
and  its  storms,  of  its  beauty  and  its  wrath.  When  the 
seamen  quits  the  land  and  trusts  his  life  and  fortunes  upon 
the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and  has  only  the  vaulted  sky  and 
the  planets  and  stars  as  subjects  of  permanency  and  trust, 


66  WHAT  THE  SAILOR  SHOULD  BE. 

he  is  hidden,  buried  as  it  were,  from  all  his  friends  and 
associations.  For  months,  and  perhaps  years,  no  word 
reaches  his  friends  as  to  his  safety,  and  some,  alas !  are 
never  heard  of  more.  Their  death,  and  the  place  of  their 
sepulture,  is  a  mystery  forever. 

In  connection  with  all  that  relates  to  the  sea,  there  is 
uncertainty  and  mystery,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
stoutest-hearted  seamen  entertain  feelings  of  superstitious 
fear  relative  to  special  days,  and  unlucky  ships,  the  appear- 
ance of  birds,  and  other  omens  of  good  and  ill.  Some  of 
the  finest  stories  that  have  been  written  are  of  the  sea. 
Dana's  "  Three  Years  Before  the  Mast,"  and  Captain  Mar- 
ryatt's  sea  stories,  have  been  read  by  boys  with  more  enthu- 
siasm than  anything  else.  • 

WHAT  THE   SAILOR   SHOULD   BE. 

One  of  the  first  needs  of  the  sailor  is  health,  a  substan- 
tial, tough,  and  enduring  constitution.  He  should  have 
tapering  limbs,  indicating  agility  and  sprightliness  of 
motion.  One  who  is  trained  to  the  sea  from  boyhood 
will,  if  he  have  a  fair  constitution,  always  show  broad 
shoulders  and  relatively  narrow  hips,  because  nearly  all 
his  work  is  done  with  his  arms  and  shoulders.  The  sailor 
lifts  things  by  the  tackle,  by  pulling  downward,  lightening 
the  burden  from  his  lower  limbs,  and  giving  the  tendency 
to  broaden  the  chest  and  make  the  arms  brawny,  without 
much  increasing  the  lower  half  of  the  body.  It  is  pro- 
verbial that  a  company  of  sailors,  for  their  height  and 
weight,  will  show  broader  shoulders  and  larger  arms  in 
proportion  to  the  lower  part  of  the  body  than  other 


His  MENTAL  QUALITIES.  67 

men.  The  farmer,  who  carries  burdens,  and  uses  his  legs 
about  as  much  as  he  does  his  arms,  will  be  more  equally 
developed.  We  would  recommend  no  man  of  narrow 
chest  and  flat  breast  to  go  to  sea.  A  boy  so  organized 
might  measurably  overcome  the  defect,  but  he  would 
never  make  so  good  a  sailor  as  one  of  the  brawny,  square- 
shouldered,  deep-chested,  strong,  natural  constitutions. 
On  a  ship  at  sea,  struggling  with  a  storm,  there  is  no  place 
for  shirks,  invalids,  or  imbeciles.  Every  pair  of  hands 
ought  to  have  a  robust  body,  and  a  determined  mind  con- 
nected with  it,  for  every  man  there  should  count  for  the 
safety  of  himself  and  others,  as  well  as  that  of  the  ship 
and  its  treasures. 

The  sailor  should  have  Combativeness  and  Destructive- 
ness  large  enough  to  give  him  courage.  He  should  have 
broad  shoulders,  a  good-sized  neck,  a  broad  base  to  the 
brain,  to  give  foundation  for  vital  courage  and  earnestness 
of  character;  a  full  development  of  Cautiousness,  to  make 
him  on  the  alert  for  danger  of  every  kind  at  sea,  and  even " 
when  lying  at  the  dock  and  preparing  for  sea.  An  incau- 
tious, reckless  man  would  stow  a  cargo  in  such  a  way 
that  it  would  be  injured,  or  that  it  would  shift  and  en- 
danger the  ship.  In  ordering  repairs,  he  would  treat  the 
ship  carelessly — which  ought  to  be  stanch  in  every  partic- 
ular— as  he  would  a  cow-shed  on  shore,  thus  risking  his 
own  life  and  that  of  many  others. 

The  seaman  should  have  Firmness  and  Self-Esteem,  to 
give  him  steadfastness,  dignity,  and  self-reliance.  Noth- 
ing taxes  Self-Esteem  and  courage  more  than  with  a  ship 
to  fight  the  angry  ocean ;  for  when  the  great  waves  come 

3* 


58  His  MENTAL  CULTIVATION. 

rolling  up,  making  a  clean  breach  over  the  deck,  and  for 
the  moment  covering  with  water  the  hardy  seaman  who 
is  lashed  to  the  wheel,  and  he  stands  by  the  helm  catch- 
ing breath  when  he  may,  and  thus  for  hours  striving  with 
the  storm,  it  requires  no  faint  heart  or  weak  body  for  such 
a  place.  When  a  man  loads  a  team  for  a  distant  market- 
town,  he  considers  how  much  that  team  can  haul  up  the 
steepest  hill  on  the  route ;  he  does  not  load  his  team  for 
the  level  stretches  and  easy  grades,  but  for  the  steep  hills. 
So  when  seamen  are  selected  for  duty,  the  character  of 
each  man,  and  the  number  of  the  men  should  be  con- 
sidered with  reference  to  these  terrific  storms.  Weaklings 
may  do  to  sail  upon  placid  summer  seas  where  neither 
"  tack  "  nor  "  sheet  "  need  be  changed  for  weeks  together. 
He  who  has  not  in  him  the  conscious  strength  and  courage, 
the  hearty  healthfulness  and  vigor  requisite  for  the  worst, 

should  stay  ashore. 

• 

HIS   MENTAL   CULTIVATION. 

The  seaman,  however,  requires  something  besides  mere 
physical  courage,  prudence,  and  bodily  vigor  and  endur- 
ance; he  should  have  intellectual  capabilities,  and  a 
good  degree  of  culture.  There  is  no  good  reason  why 
seamen  should  be  proverbially  rough,  base,  outcast 
men.  True,  in  large  cities,  there  are  many  temptations  to 
vice  and  demoralization,  and  some  men  who  are  seamen 
ran  away  from  home  before  their  characters  were  formed, 
fell  into  bad  company  and  bad  habits,  and  now  disgrace 
the  name  of  seaman  as  well  as  the  name  of  man ;  and 
when  these  roystering,  ruined  sons  of  the  sea  are  going  in 


CHARACTER  AND  HABITS.  59 

noisy  groups,  intoxicated  through  the  streets,  and  become 
a  terror  to  children  and  others,  there  are  many  quiet  citi- 
zen seamen  who  are  at  home  rejoicing  with  their  families 
as  sober,  Christian  men,  saving  their  wages  and  building 
up  an  enviable  prosperity.  In  many  of  the  small  towns 
along  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine  the  most 
respectable  of  the  citizens  are  seamen.  On  a  Sunday, 
their  brown  faces,  with  the  wife  and  group  of  pretty  chil- 
dren, may  be  seen  in  the  pews  of  the  church.  The  best 
young  men  learn  the  science  of  the  sea,  and  honor  the 
profession  they  follow.  In  the  large  commercial  towns 
the  veterans  of  the  sea,  the  victims  of  land-sharks  and 
intemperance,  may  haunt  the  public  imagination,  as  they 
are  a  disgrace  in  the  public  eye ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
why  men  of  culture  and  first-class  talent  and  morals,  like 
the  immortal  Farragut,  should  not  be  common  in  this  great 
field  of  industry. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  all  men  who  go  to  sea  "  be- 
fore the  mast "  shall  be  scholars  and  gentlemen,  for  this 
is  not  relatively  true  in  any  other  pursuit.  But  every  man 
on  shore  or  on  sea  should  have  a  good  practical  education, 
Mathematics,  astronomy,  and  navigation  should  be  pretty 
thoroughly  studied,  and  geography  should  be  as  familiar 
as  one's  right  hand  to  him  who  "  goes  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships."  Many  a  boy  runs  away  from  school,  or  anxiously 
seeks  permission  to  go  to  sea,  before  he  has  established  his 
education.  Having  an  ardent  desire  to  rise  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  expecting  to  become  master  of  a  vessel,  he  ulti- 
mately finds  himself  an  able  seaman,  so  far  as  work  is  con- 
cerned, but  destitute  of  the  sciences  which  lie  at  the  basis 


60  WILD  SEA  NOTIOKS  OF  BOYS. 

of  a  knowledge  of  navigation.  Unless  by  good  fortune  he 
meets  some  officer  who  is  willing  to  instruct  him,  he  re- 
mains before  the  mast  for  life,  with  a  brain  hungry  to 
rise,  and  capable  of  acquiring  knowledge,  but  not  having 
the  opportunity  to  do  so,  his  life  becomes  relatively  a 
failure. 

Moreover,  many  a  boy  who  runs  away  to  go  to  sea,  and 
thinks  he  has  a  real  yearning  for  the  seaman's  life,  finds  at 
last  that  he  made  a  mistake — it  was  only  a  desire  to  see 
something  of  the  world,  to  visit  places  he  has  read  about, 
that  urges  him  to  the  reckless  step  he  takes.  Many  of 
this  class  of  boys,  if  they  could  be  sent  as  passengers  to 
Liverpool,  London,  or  Havre,  or  could  make  a  trip  to 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  New  Orleans,  would  return  con- 
tented and  go  to  work  on  the  farm,  in  the  shop  or  store, 
or  at  his  books  in  school.  But  denied  this  opportunity,  he 
slips  his  hawser,  or  his  halter,  and  wastes  his  life  in  roam- 
ing, dissipation,  and  vice. 

The  seaman  should  have  large  Constructiveness,  for 
there  is  no  occupation  in  which  the  work  to  be  done  re- 
quires more  tact,  sleight-of-hand,  and  ingenuity  than  the 
work  of  the  seaman ;  and  he  who  witnesses  a  rough  sailor 
handling  the  ropes,  making  knots,  fastenings,  splicings, 
and  the  like,  can  not  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  manual 
skill  and  dexterity  required  in  this  pursuit.  The  sailor, 
moreover,  should  have  large  Perceptive  organs,  a  full  and 
prominent  brow,  with  a  comparatively  receding  forehead, 
not  from  a  want  of  tophead,  but  from  an  abundance  of 
development  in  the  lower  part  of  the  forehead.  These 
organs  give  quickness  of  observation.  A  good  seaman 


A  STEADY  HEAD  REQUIRED.  61 

reads  the  sky,  the  clouds,  and  the  sea  like  a  book.  He 
discerns  the  signs  in  the  heavens,  and  many  a  sharp-eyed 
seaman  has  shortened  sail  and  made  everything  snug  be- 
cause he  saw  a  storm  "  brewing "  in  the  distance,  which 
would  not  have  attracted  the  attention  of  a  landsman  at 
all,  and  which,  if  pointed  out  and  described,  would  not 
have  been  recognized  as  a  thing  to  fear. 

In  whale-fishing  and  in  exploring,  men  are  kept  at  the 
mast-head  on  the  look-out  for  land,  for  ships,  and  for  the 
"blowing"  of  the  whale.  A  strong,  clear  vision,  with 
these  large  perceptives,  which  give  the  talent  to  perceive 
and  recognize  quickly,  should  also  be  possessed. 

A   STEADY   HEAD BALANCING   POWER. 

The  seaman  should  have  large  Weight,  for  it  is  this 
which  enables  him  to  balance  himself,  and  to  go  aloft  with- 
out a  swimming  head.  Some  people  become  sick  in  lofty 
situations,  and  are  utterly  incapable  of  going  up ;  but  who- 
ever has  a  large  development  of  the  organ  of  Weight  can 
climb  like  a  monkey,  and  not  be  giddy.  The  seamen  who 
are  obliged  to  "  tumble  up  "  aloft  in  the  total  darkness  of 
midnight,  when  the  winds  howl  and  shriek  through  the 
rigging,  and  the  blinding  hail-storm  is  fiercely  pelting,  and 
they  must  go  to  the  end  of  the  yard-arm,  perhaps  a  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  deck,  and  take  in  frozen  sails,  find  it 
no  child's  play. 

Imagine  men  on  the  leeward  end  of  the  main-yard,  that 
stretches  out  over  the  boiling'sea,  and  as  the  vessel  plunges 
and  bows  to  the  gale,  carrying  the  end  of  the  yard  with 
the  men  clinging  to  it  six  feet  under  the  crest  of  the  wave, 


62  THE  NATIONAL  SERVICE. 

and  when  they  emerge  going  on  with  their* work,  thus  be- 
ing drenched  perhaps  a  dozen  times  before  the  task  is 
completed !  This  is  not  holiday  work,  but  it  must  be  done, 
or  the  ship  and  all  on  board  will  be  lost.  A  sensible  sea- 
man thus  working  for  his  own  life,  while  he  ministers  to 
the  safety  of  the  ship,  needs  no  prompting,  but  simply 
guidance  and  instruction.  Nowhere  else  will  men  work 
so  freely  and  hazard  so  much  as  at  sea  in  a  gale  ;  shirking 
at  such  a  time  is  death. 

The  seaman  needs  large  Locality  and  Order,  so  as  to 
remember  the  special  locality  of  every  rope  and  footline 
from  the  main-truck  to  the  deck.  Imagine  such  a  feat  as 
going  aloft  and  shortening  sail  by  a  blind  man ;  yet  this  is 
precisely  what  seamen's  life  and  labor  is  in  dark,  stormy 
nights.  Let  those  pale,  cowardly,  ill-developed  saplings 
who  think  that  going  to  sea  is  pleasant  recreation,  con- 
tent themselves  by  staying  ashore,  where  their  weakness 
will  be  chiefly  their  own  misfortune,  and  not,  as  it  would 
be  at  sea,  the  misfortune  of  all  on  board. 

THE   NATIONAL   SERVICE. 

The  national  naval  service  differs  somewhat  from  the 
commercial  service ;  not  in  navigation ;  but  there  is  gen- 
erally more  discipline,  a  greater  number  of  men  to  do  the 
work,  and  a  higher  degree  of  culture  among  the  officers. 
But  in  addition  to  this  there  is  the  science  of  war,  and,  it 
may  be  added,  the  dangers  and  terrors  of  war.  In  the 
age  of  wooden  ships,  a  battle  at  sea  was  a  very  different 
affair  from  what  it  is  now.  One  would  think  it  were  bad 
enough  to  tempt  the  perils  of  the  ocean,  without  tempting 


PIRATES.  63 

also  the  belching  broadsides  of  cannon  as  well.  Before  the 
age  of  steam,  a  single  shot  at  a  man-of-war  might  disable 
her  sailing  and  put  her  at  the  mercy  of  the  ocean  or  of  the 
foe.  But  with  ironclads  to  resist  cannon-shot,  and  sub- 
merged steam  machinery  for  propulsion,  the  war  vessel 
can  leave  its  foe,  or  stand  the  cannonading  better  than  for- 
merly, though  the  enginery  for  battering  a  foe  is  ten  times 
more  deadly  than  in  the  days  of  wooden  ships.  Half  a 
century  ago,  the  marshaling  of  two  first-class  frigates  for 
battle  had  something  awfully  dramatic  in  it,  requiring  of 
the  men  dauntless  courage  and  patriotism  as  well  as  great 
skill  m  maneuvering  the  ships. 

CULTURE    OP   NAVAL   OFFICERS. 

Officers  in  the  war  vessels  of  all  nations  are  noted  for 
dignity,  learning,  gallantry,  integrity, — in  short,  manliness. 
We  think  such  qualities  can  hardly  be  developed  from  a 
bad  source.  There  is  something  about  life  on  the  ocean 
which  makes  men  generous,  sympathetical,  and  magnani- 
mous. Sailors  have  a  mellow  heart ;  they  may  have  a 
tanned  and  rough  visage,  a  brawny  arm  and  bony  fist, 
and  perhaps  use  the  latter  oftener  than  is  required,  but 
back  of  these  there  palpitates  generous,  cordial  affection, 
and  a  kind  of  good  Samaritan  impulse  which  are  rarely, 
if  ever,  appealed  to  in  vain. 

PIRATES. 

When  seamen  lose  integrity,  and  make  war  on  the 
human  race,  as  some  unfortunately  have  done,  the  word 
pirate  carries  with  it  dread  and  dismay ;  and  so  terrible 


64  SCIENCE  OF  SEAMANSHIP. 

are  their  acts,  such  impunity  being  offered  by  the  silence 
of  the  sea,  that  mankind  have  learned  to  think  of  pirates 
as  of  demons  let  loose.  If  the  opportunities  of  bad  men 
at  sea  furnish  facility  for  impunity  in  crime,  and  by  its 
mystery  make  it  seem  more  terrible,  there  are  in  proportion 
more  pirates  on  land  who  hunt  for  their  victims  with  a 
stealthier  step,  and  with  equal  malignity  of  purpose. 

EDUCATION   OF   SEAMEN. 

Some  may  ask,  "  Why  does  the  common  seaman  require 
to  understand  the  science  of  navigation?"  The  answer 
is  simple.  Every  officer  might  be  stricken  down  with 
sickness,  or  washed  overboard  in  a  storm,  and  it  would  be 
desirable  if  each  seaman  were  able  to  take  the  ship's  papers, 
and  work  her  voyage  home  half  around  the  world.  This 
was  the  case  with  a  large  East  India  ship  which  lost 
every  officer  by  cholera,  where  the  captain's  wife,  Mrs. 
Blount,  understanding  navigation,  brought  the  noble  ship 
home  to  Southampton,  England,  about  the  year  1850. 
The  heroic  conduct  of  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Patten,  aged  twenty 
years,  wife  of  Capt.  Joshua  Patten,  of  Boston,  must  be 
remembered  with  pleasure  and  pride  by  many.  They 
sailed  from  New  York  in  July,  1856,  for  San  Francisco, 
in  the  clipper  ship  Neptune's  Car.  "When  doubling  Cape 
Horn  the  captain  suspended  the  mate  for  neglect  of  duty, 
and  had  double  duty  to  perform;  becoming  ill  of  brain 
fever,  Mrs.  Patten,  understanding  navigation,  nursed  her 
delirious  husband,  and  took  the  ship  in  safety  to  San 
Francisco.  The  underwriters  of  New  York  presented  her 
with  a  purse  of  a  thousand  dollars. 


CLOTH  MANUFACTURE.  65 


CLOTH     MANUFACTURE. 

THIS  pursuit  is  divided  into  many  branches.  One  who 
manufactures  woolen  cloth  may  confine  himself  to  cassi- 
meres,  plain  or  fancy,  and  the  trade  differs  accordingly. 
He  may  make  broadcloth  or  heavy  beavers ;  he  may  make 
flannel,  fine  or  coarse ;  he  may  make  carpets — which  is  a 
trade  by  itself,  and  that  really  contains  three  or  four 
trades,  differing  as  much  as  blacksmithing  and  tinsmithing 
or  carpentry  and  cabinet-making.  The  velvet  carpets  of 
the  finer  and  higher  grades,  the  Brussels  carpets,  the 
ingrain, — all  have  different  machinery,  and  require  differ- 
ent management  and  skill.  One  set  of  hands  can  not 
readily  go  from  one  to  another.  Still,  it  is  all  cloth 
manufacture,  viz.,  the  construction  of  textile  fabrics. 

Then,  again,  the  spinning  and  weaving  of  silk,  satin, 
crepe  shawls,  merino  shawls,  cambric,  common  muslin, 
duck  for  sails  and  sack-cloth, — how  various  !  The  man- 
agement of  a  loom,  whatever  the  fabric,  is  governed  by 
the  same  general  laws.  However  widely  looms  may  seem 
to  differ,  the  putting  of  filling  into  warp,  and  thereby  con- 
structing the  fabric,  has  something  in  common  in  all  looms. 

Take  the  manufacture  of  broadcloth,  for  example. 
There  are  several  trades  connected  with  that. 


66  WOOL-SOBTING—  DYEING. 

"Wool-sorting  comes  first,  requiring  skill  in  a  particular 
direction;  a  nice  sense  of  feeling  as  to  coarse  and  fine, 
governed,  doubtless,  by  the  sense  of  touch  in  respect  to 
harshness,  and  by  the  faculty  of  Size  in  respect  to  size  of 
the  staple.  We  have  known  sixteen  qualities  of  wool  to 
be  obtained  in  one  lot.  One  fleece  would  give  a  consider- 
able amount  of  first  quality,  and  some  of  it  would  be 
coarse  enough  for  the  seventh  quality,  and  another  fleece 
would  begin  at  the  seventh  quality,  and  run  all  the  way 
down  to  the  sixteenth.  We  have  seen  handfuls  of  wool 
taken,  in  the  absence  of  the  wool-sorter,  from  five  or  six 
of  his  sixteen  binsf  and  he  took  each  handful,  and  with 
one  look  and  a  pull  with  the  hands  instantly  assigned  it 
to  the  box  from  whence  it  came.  This  was  tried  with  five 
or  six  different  men  in  the  same  shop  with  the  same  result. 
This  is  one  trade,  and  an  important  one,  as  it  grades  the 
wool  for  different  qualities  of  cloth,  and  requires  men  of 
Mental-  Vital  temperament,  and  calm,  quick,  clear  judg- 
ment. 


Dyeing  wool  and  cloth  is  another  trade.  The  wool-dyer 
requires  large  perceptive  organs,  to  give  him  talent  for 
chemistry,  and  memory  of  the  facts  belonging  to  that 
science.  He  needs  to  have  a  large  organ  of  Color,  so  as 
to  appreciate  the  nice  shades,  and  in  looking  at  a  handful 
of  wool  or  piece  of  cloth  which  he  is  coloring,  to  readily 
see  what  is  needed  in  the  way  of  coloring  material  to 
bring  it  to  the  required  shade.  Without  a  large  develop- 
ment of  the  organ  of  Color  and  fair  Ideality,  he  can  not 
be  a  fancy  dyer.  There  are  some  plain  colors  that  can  be 


CLOTH-FINISHING.  67 

made  by  fixed  recipes.  Even  then  a  trained  judgment  is 
required  in  estimating  the  kind  and  amount  of  coloring 
matter  for  different  kinds  of  goods.  Some  will  take  color 
easier  than  others,  and  display  them  to  better  advantage. 

CARDING   AND   SPINNING 

constitute  another  trade  in  the  manufacture  of  cloth. 
The  talents  required  for  this  branch  are  similar  to  those 
of  the  machinist.  He  has  to  run  the  machinery,  and  needs 
to  understand  its  laws.  In  this  trade,  Constructiveness, 
Causality,  and  large  perceptive  organs  are  required,  and  in 
spinning,  a  sensitive  touch  and  a  very  quick  hand  to  mend 

the  broken  threads. 

WEAVING. 
/ 

The  weaver  claims  his  department  as  a  trade.  When  one 
looks  on  and  sees  the  beautiful  pattern  of  the  carpet  or 
si  :awl  thread  by  thread  coming  into  being  until  the  entire 
pattern  is  completed,  and  then  the  continuous  repetition  of 
the  same,  he  will  consider  it  an  art  as  well  as  a  trade,  and 
regard  the  loom  as  almost  a  thinking  machine.  But  broad- 
cloth weaving,  as  done  by  power-looms,  is  very  plain, 
straightforward  work.  A  person  can  follow  that  who  is 
endowed  With  fair  common  sense  and  a  quick  eye,  with 
nimble  fingers  to  handle  threads  and  mend  those  that 
break.  Still,  the  weaver  should  be  capable  of  building 
the  loom  as  well  as  of  running  it, — not  by  experience,  but 
he  should  have  the  head,  the  talent  which  are  required  to 
construct  the  loom,  in  order  to  be  a  first-class  weaver. 

CLOTH-FINISHING. 

Finishing  cloth  is  another  trade.     It  has  to  be  cleansed 


68  PAPEE-MAKING. 

and  fulled.  It  must  be  napped,  sheared,  brushed,  and 
pressed.  In  order  to  raise  a  full  and  fine  nap  without  in- 
jury to  the  material,  great  care  is  necessary.  This  requires 
a  nice  sense  of  touch,  keen  criticism,  and  a  good  eye.  The 
cloth-finisher  must  be  a  tidy  man,  for  he  has  to  quarrel 
with  lint  and  dust  and  everything  that  can  deface  the 
beautiful  cloth  which  he  wishes  to  have  shine  like  satin 
as  it  leaves  his  hands. 

No  man  can  be  a  good  manufacturer  or  tradesman  in 
any  of  the  nicer  departments  of  mechanism  without  large, 
well-trained  perceptive  organs,  for  these  give  a  knowledge 
of  qualities,  conditions,  and  particulars,  and  sharp,  com- 
mon-sense judgment  of  things;  and  the  larger  and  more 
active  they  are,  the  quicker  the  man  will  see  the  condition 
of  things,  and  what  is  required  to  be  done. 

PAPER-MAKIISTG. 

In  respect  to  this  department  of  business,  few  people 
have  any  knowledge.  It  is  known  that  rags,  cotton-waste, 
ropes,  old  sacking,  straw,  Manilla-grass,  and  even  wood 
are  made  into  paper,  but  how  is  not  generally  known. 
Fine  book-paper,  and  even  letter-paper  is  often  made  from 
colored  rags,  dirty  cotton-waste,  which  may  have  been 
used  to  clean  machinery,  and  is  so  full  of  grease  and  gum 
that  it  would  take  fire  by  spontaneous  combustion  if  left 
in  a  heap ;  old  scrubbing-cloths,  waste  rags,  canvas,  sack- 
ing, and  rope,  that  are  picked  up  by  the  scavengers  in  the 
streets,  can  be  so  completely  cleansed  that  it  will  look  as 
white  as  curdled  milk  or  blanc  mange,  when  prepared  in 
the  form  of  pulp  to  be  put  into  paper. 


GrRIXDING  THE   STOCK.  69 

The  cleansing  process  is  performed  "by  subjecting  the 
stock  to  strong  acids  or  alkalies  and  a  high  degree  of  heat 
by  steam.  This  process  alone  is  a  great  art,  and  is  an  im- 
portant trade  of  itself.  Straw  is  bleached  in  hot  lime- 
water  or  other  alkaline  material,  and  the  woody  substance 
is  thus  softened  so  that  it  washes  out,  leaving  the  fiber  for 
paper.  Rope,  sack,  or  cotton-waste  in  small  quantity  is 
used  with  straw  for  making  paper,  to  give  it  toughness. 
Certain  fibrous  kinds  of  wood  are  cut  into  shavings,  and 
these  are  subjected  to  a  bleaching  process,  which  releases  the 
attendant  useless  material  from  the  fiber,  and  this  is  made 
into  paper.  The  paper  for  some  of  the  New  York  dailies  is 
made  from  wood  as  the  chief  material.  Bank-note  paper  of 
the  best  kind  is  made  from  new  linen  cloth  ;  and  the  splashes 
of  long  fibers  of  blue  or  red  to  mark  it,  which  the  paper 
of  some  banks  always  shows,  are  caused  by  cutting  red  or 
blue  silk  cloth  in  pieces  three-fourths  of  an  inch  square 
and  putting  them  into  the  pulp  when  it  is  nearly  ground 
and  letting  the  engine*  pull  it  into  threads  and  fibers  ;  or 
silk  threads  of  the  required  length  are  cut  and  put  in  and 
ground  till  untwisted  and  reduced  to  fibrous  splashes. 
Water-marks  are  made  in  all  Bank-of-England  note-paper, 
generally  specifying  the  denomination  of  the  note,  and  in 
many  other  kinds  of  paper.  This  is  done  by  working  into 
the  vellum  or  wire-cloth  on  which  the  paper  is  formed, 
with  very  fine  wire,  the  outline  of  the  required  figures,  and 
this  produces  a  thinness  of  the  paper  over  the  figures 
worked  in,  and  presents  semi-transparent  lines  when  held 
up  to  the  light. 

The  engine  or  grinding-null  which  reduces  the  rags  to 


70  FOEMIISG  THE  PAPEB. 

pulp  is  adjusted  with  a  cylinder  two  feet  long  and  twenty 
inches  in  diameter,  having  knives  or  thin  bars  of  steel  re- 
sembling the  blades  of  shears  in  its  outer  surface.  This 
roll  or  cylinder  revolves  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  the 
edges  of  these  knives  in  pretty  near  contact  with  a  set  of 
similar  knives  bolted  together,  and  fixed  in  a  bed  below 
the  revolving  cylinder.  These  are  slightly  crooked,  so 
that  when  the  straight  knives  of  the  cylinder  revolve  above 
them,  they  together  constitute  a  kind  of  shears.  These 
are  so  adjusted  that  by  letting  the  cylinder  down  grad- 
ually the  fixed  knives  and  the  revolving  knives  act  on  each 
other  like  shears,  and  thus  achieve  a  cutting  operation. 
These,  by  being  brought  gradually  toward  each  other, 
serve  to  bruise  the  rags  or  paper  stock  into  pulp,  the  fibers 
of  which  shall  be  from  an  eighth  of  an  inch  to  half  an  inch 
in  length,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  paper  to  be  made. 
If  one  will  take  common  paper,  say  Manilla  paper,  and  tear 
it,  the  fibers  will  be  exhibited.  The  grinding  engine  con- 
sists of  a  long,  shallow  vat  or  tub,  which  will  hold  thirty 
barrels  of  water.  The  roll  or  cylinder  is  fixed  to  revolve 
in  one  side  of  this  vat.  Two  hundred  pounds  of  rags  or 
other  paper  stock,  more  or  less  according  to  the  size  of  the 
engine,  are  put  into  this  vat  filled  with  water,  and  the  rev- 
olution of  the  roll  causes  the  water  and  rags  to  flow 
in  a  circuit  around  and  around,  thus  subjecting  every  part 
of  the  stock  to  the  grinding  process  until  it  is  reduced  to 
pulp  of  the  desired  shortness  of  fiber.  Old  paper  is  made 
over,  even  printed  paper  can  be  cleaned  from  the  ink  and 
made  into  delicate  white  paper.  After  this  pulp  is  thus 
ground,  it  is  drawn  off  into  another  vat  and  made  thin  by 


FINISHING  PAPER.  71 

adding  water,  so  as  to  flow  like  milk,  and  it  is  caused  to 
flow  over  the  surface  of  a  wire  sieve,  which  is  continuous 
like  a  belt,  and  passes  like  a  panorama  around  and  around, 
making  a  continuous  sheet  of  paper;  just  enough  of  pulp 
being  permitted  to  flow  over  the  wire-cloth  surface  to 
make  the  required  thickness  of  paper.  The  thickness  of 
the  paper  is  controlled  by  the  stream  of  pulp  which  flows 
in  by  a  faucet.  The  surplus  water  passes  through  the 
sieve.  The  embryo  paper  is  taken  off  from  the  sieve  with 
a  cylinder  called  a  u  coucher,"  having  a  woolen  cloth 
over  it ;  then  it  passes  between  closely  fitting  rollers,  and 
becomes  pressed;  passes  around  iron  or  brass  rollers, 
heated  by  steam,  which  dries  the  sheet ;  it  continues  on, 
passing  through  paste,  which  sizes  the  fabric ;  it  then 
passes  between  rollers  which  remove  the  extra  paste  and 
give  firmness  to  the  sheet ;  then  goes  around  other  heated 
cylinders  to  re-dry  it ;  passes  through  other  steam-heated 
"  calendering "  rollers  that  are  pressed  together  very 
tightly,  which  gives  a  hard,  brilliant,  smooth  surface  to 
the  paper ;  it  then  passes  through  the  ruling-machine,  and 
is  cut  up  into  sheets.  Thus,  in  a  distance  of  forty  or  fifty 
feet,  a  sheet  of  paper  is  pulp,  and  goes  through  all  these 
processes  of  forming,  drying,  and  sizing,  and  re-drying, 
and  calendering,  ruling,  and  being  cut  and  counted.  And 
this  process  goes  on  from  Sunday  night  at  twelve  until 
Sat  unlay  night  at  twelve,  without  once  stopping  or  the 
paper  breaking.  On  fine,  nice  stock  a  machine  will  thus 
continue  to  run  without  a  breakdown  sometimes  for  weeks, 
and  even  months,  only  stopping  for  Sunday.  The  coarser 
papers  have  fewer  processes,  and  the  work  is  rougher. 


72  TALENTS  REQTJIKED. 

A  man  to  be  a  thorough  paper-maker  needs  to  be  a 
chemist,  that  he  may  learn  how  to  clean  the  stock  properly, 
for  the  processes  are  quite  numerous  and  complicated. 
He  needs  to  understand  machinery,  and  have  a  nice  sense 
of  criticism,  both  with  eye  and  hand.  When  the  paper  is 
running  off  from  the  machine,  an  experienced  paper-maker 
by  letting  the  sheet  pass  between  his  fingers  will  judge  of 
the  thickness  of  the  paper  so  nicely  that  he  can  detect  a 
variation  of  four  ounces  in  a  ream  of  sixty  pounds  weight, 
whether  it  be  too  thick  or  too  thin,  increasing  the  flow  of 
pulp,  or  decreasing  it  accordingly. 

Paper-making  is  a  great  trade,  and,  of  course,  is  useful ; 
but,  like  the  machinist's  business,  it  circumscribes  a  man's 
liberty,  and  makes  it  necessary  for  him  to  work  for  others 
by  the  week,  and  his  wages  day  by  day  is  the  measure 
of  his  prosperity ;  whereas,  if  one  is  a  tinsmith,  or  black- 
smith, or  cooper,  or  carpenter,  he  can  set  up  the  business 
for  himself,  because  it  does  not  take  a  great  deal  of  capital, 
and  can  be  conducted  in  a  small  way  profitably ;  while  the 
woolen  factory,  machine  shop,  iron  foundry,  or  paper-mill 
requires  a  large  amount  of  capital,  must  have  a  superin- 
tendent of  each  room,  and  the  rest  of  the  men  must  neces- 
sarily be  subordinates. 

THE   PBOUD-SPIRITED. 

When  a  young  man  with  vim  and  energy  comes  under 
our  hands,  inquiring  what  he  can  and  ought  to  do,  we 
have  to  consider  whether  he  is  a  man  requiring  to  be  gov 
erned  and  guided,  or  whether  he  is  one  of  those  proud, 
restless,  energetic  spirits  that  must  be  at  the  head  of  the 


EffGBAVING.    '  73 

business,  whatever  the  smallness  of  it  may  be.  A  man 
who  is  cautious,  with  moderate  Self-Esteem,  and  not  a 
great  deal  of  force  and  energy  of  character,  can  run  en- 
gines or  a  paper-machine,  can  be  a  cloth-finisher,  a  man- 
ager of  carding  or  spinning  machinery,  and  feel  better  to 
be  thus  under  supervision  than  to  be  in  a  position  that  re- 
quires courage,  fortitude,  self-reliance,  and  boldness  of  de- 
cision. Many  have  a  proud,  independent  disposition,  btrt 
lack  talent  to  take  the  lead.  These  should  content  them- 
selves with  such  a  place  as  they  can  fill,  though  they  gen- 
erally are  full  of  trouble  to  keep  such  a  place  as  they  are 
willing  to  occupy.  Some  have  more  talent  than  self-reli- 
ance, and  remain  below  their  true  places. 

DIE-SINKING, 

like  engraving,  is  an  art,  yet  it  is  called  a  trade.  No  man 
should  touch  this  work  who  has  not  large  Imitation,  Form, 
Size,  Order,  and  Ideality.  He  needs  first-rate  eyesight, 
and  large  Continuity,  to  give  him  patience,  for  he  must 
sometimes  work  for  days  on  a  field  not  larger  that  a  silver 
dollar.  A  man  of  dark  complexion,  with  the  Mental 
rather  than  the  Vital  temperament,  should  follow  this 
business. 

ENGRAVING. 

The  steel  engraver,  like  the  die-sinker,  requires  accuracy 
of  eye  and  fineness  of  execution.  In  the  main,  his  work 
is  quite  artistic.  He  needs  quiet  nerves,  a  strong,  clear 
eye,  and  a  very  steady  hand.  A  blue-eyed,  sandy-haired, 

4 


74  WOOD  EKGKAVHSTG. 

round-cheeked,  ruddy-faced  boy,  who  would  prefer  to  drive 
a  horse,  or  play  a  game  at  ball,  rather  than  to  sit  either 
at  books  or  business,  should  never  undertake  to  be  an 
engraver,  for  he  would  run  away  from  himself,  if  he  did 
not  from  his  master.  He  would  almost  "  die  daily,"  and 
feel  like  an  eagle  chained  to  a  rock.  An  engraver  should 
be  a  man  who  likes  sedentary  habits. 

WOOD   ENGRAVING 

is  different  from  that  of  steel  or  copper ;  the  material  is 
softer ;  the  work  is  done  more  rapidly,  and  there  is  not  so 
much  danger  of  spoiling  the  job  as  in  steel  and  copper  work. 
The  wood  engraver  must  work  by  the  eye  and  judgment 
rather  than  by  rule.  We  have  been  informed,  by  an  emi- 
nent wood  engraver,  that  he  has  found  out,  by  experience, 
that  if  a  boy  is  fond  of  mathematics,  and  therefore  feels  the 
necessity  to  demonstrate  everything  in  connection  with 
his  work,  he  will  never  succeed  in  wood  engraving.  So 
firm  is  he  in  this  idea,  that  when  a  boy  applies  to  him  to 
become  an  apprentice,  he  inquires  if  he  is  good  in  figures 
and  mathematics.  If  the  boy  blushingly  confesses  to  a 
deficiency  in  this  respect,  the  engraver  considers  it  a  favor- 
able indication,  and  is  willing  to  try  him.  To  illustrate 
the  point :  a  father  brought  his  son  to  me  for  an  examina- 
tion. They  looked  sad,  as  if  the  world  went  ill  with  them. 
The  father  wanted  to  know  what  the  boy  could  do  best. 
The  reply  was,  "  Almost  anything  that  can  be  done  by 
rule.  But  a  trade  like  wood  engraving  he  would  not  sue* 
ceed  in,  because  that  can  not  be  done  by  rules  and  scales 
and  gauges,  but  by  taste  and  judgment."  They  exchanged 


PRINTING.  75 

smiles,  and  at  the  close  of  the  examination  informed  me 
that  the  boy  had  been  six  months  In  an  engraver's  office, 
and  had  that  day  been  dismissed  because  he  would  not, 
or  could  not,  work  by  the  eye;  but  in  making  tints  or 
shading,  he  wanted  a  fixed  guage  or  scale,  so  that  it  could 
be  done,  as  it  were,  by  machinery,  or  by  demonstration  and 
measurement.  He  was  recommended  to  become  a  carpen- 
ter, where  he  could  make  his  lines  and  work  by  them ;  and 
at  once  showed  skill  and  judgment,  and  rapidly  became 
successful. 

PRINTING. 

The  setting  of  type  should  be  done  mainly  by  men  who 
are  not  able  to  knock  about  in  the  rough  work  of  life, 
or  by  women.  It  is  light  work,  and  that  which  is  plain 
requires  simply  a  quick  eye,  a  quick  hand,  and  a  good  En- 
glish education,  especially  in  orthography.  The  secret  of 
successful  type-setting  is  this :  that  when  one  type  is  being 
adjusted,  the  eye  of  the  compositor  shall  look  to  the  box 
containing  the  next  letter,  and  fix  the  eye  on  a  particular 
letter,  so  as  to  see  which  end  up,  and  which  side  first  it 
lies,  and  having  got  hold  of  it  he  need  have  no  further 
thought,  his  hand  will  do  the  rest,  while  his  eye  selects  a 
letter  in  the  next  box,  and  thus  he  will  throw  in  the  types 
as  fast  as  he  can  pick  them  up.  But  if  he  give  his  entire 
attention  to  the  type  which  is  being  adjusted,  before  he 
looks  up  the  next,  he  learns  to  "  duck  and  bob,"  makes 
many  false  motions,  and  does  not  work  nearly  so  fast  as 
one  who  lets  his  eye  precede  his  hand.  It  requires  large 
Individuality,  to  set  type  rapidly,  and  large  Size,  to  give 


76  TALENTS  KEQUIRED. 

the  idea  of  proportion  and  distance,  not  only  in  reaching 
for  the  type,  but  in  spacing  and  "justifying"  the  lines. 

To  follow  the  printing  business,  a  person  needs  large  Con- 
tinuity, to  give  a  quiet,  persistent,  plodding  patience,  with- 
out which  he  will  become  nervous,  restless,  and  either  quit 
the  confining  business  in  disgust,  or  accomplish  little  if 
he  remain.  As  this  pursuit  requires  an  abundance  of  light, 
printing  offices  are  usually  at  the  top  of  the  building,  which 
must  be  full  of  windows,  giving  to  the  printer  an  abund- 
ance of  air  and  light,  which  promote  health.  Printers  are 
generally  intelligent,  and  a  steady  man  who  is  adapted  to 
the  business  may  retain  his  health  and  earn  good  wages. 
Working  nights  on  morning  newspapers  soon  breaks  down 
all  but  those  who  are  very  tough.  The  Mental-Motive 
temperament  is  best  for  this  trade. 

Stereotyping  requires  a  quick  eye,  sharp  criticism,  care- 
fulness, rapidity  of  motion,  and  in  some  departments  of 
it  considerable  physical  strength,  especially  in  shaving  the 
plates. 

The  printer  ought  to  be  of  a  calm,  patient,  and  un- 
ruffled disposition ;  for  the  whims  of  authors,  bad  manu- 
script, bad  grammar,  and  sometimes  worse  sense,  with 
unreasonable  alterations  of  proof-sheets,  overrunning  of 
matter,  and  then  being  scolded  for  extra  charges,  are  cal- 
culated to  call  into  exercise  all  the  Christian  graces  if  they 
are  possessed ;  or,  if  these  are  absent,  something  quite  of 
the  other  sort.  Writers  for  the  press  ought  to  spend  three 
months  at  least  at  the  case  to  learn  the  feasibility  or  pos- 
sibility of  required  changes  and  sources  of  vexation 
caused  by  slashing  alterations  after  columns  or  pages  are 


BOOK-BIDDING.  77 

in  type.  An  experienced  type-setter  will  alter  matter, 
changing  phraseology  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause  little 
trouble  to  the  compositor.  Another  would  add  a  word 
or  two,  causing  the  overrunning  of  a  whole  page.  Every 
editor  or  habitual  writer  should,  for  his  own  sake,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  compositor,  first  learn  to  be  a  compositor 
himself. 

JOB   PRINTING. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  the  printer  as  a  mere 
straightforward  type-setter  on  plain  book  or  newspaper 
work.  The  job  printer  must  be  an  artist  as  well  as  a 
mechanic  to  produce  a  handsome  job.  Constructiveness, 
Imitation,  and  Ideality  are  required  to  fit  a  man  for  such 
work.  In  cards,  circulars,  title-pages,  and  show-bills  nice 
taste  and  critical  judgment  are  required  to  harmonize  dif- 
ferent styles  of  letter  and  give  a  fine  effect  to  the  whole. 

The  process  of  printing  or  doing  the  press- work  is  really 
another  trade,  and  those  who  use  the  hand  press  on  plate 
printing  or  other  fine  work  require  decided  mechanical 
skill  and  correct  artistic  taste.  Machine  press-work  re- 
quires a  good  knowledge  of  machinery,  with  great  watch- 
fulness and  prudence. 

BOOK-BINDING. 

Common,  straightforward  book-work  is  a  trade  requir- 
ing practical  talent,  fair  mechanical  judgment,  rapidity  of 
action,  and  tidiness.  In  the  binding  of  fine  books  the 
trade  becomes  more  an  art.  But  for  all  kinds  of  work 
in  this  line,  whether  it  be  what  is  called  job,  fancy,  or 


78  PlCTUBE-FRAME  MAKING. 

staple  work,  one  requires  patience,  attention,  quick  per- 
ception, order,  activity,  and  a  kind  of  energy  which  keeps 
the  faculties  at  work  to  the  best  of  their  ability.  The 
book-binder  can  work  by  rule  when  he  has  established  his 
pattern  or  style,  and  has  his  guages  set.  When  he  has  to 
make  a  thousand,  or  ten  thousand,  books  exactly  alike  in 
appearance,  the  work  becomes  monotonous  and  almost 
automatic.  The  book-binder  needs  quickness  of  mind, 
rapidity  of  motion,  artistic  taste,  and  energy  to  secure 
success.  In  some  styles  of  work  it  is  difficult  to  have 
fresh,  cool  air,  and  though  most  of  the  work  is  not  heavy 
or  laborious,  it  can  hardly  be  called  a  very  healthful  trade. 

PICTURE-FRAME    MAKING. 

The  manufacturer  of  these  articles  of  elegance  and  lux- 
ury needs,  in  the  first  place,~fine  taste  respecting  pictures 
and  works  of  art ;  and  ingenuity  and  artistic  skill  in  mak- 
ing frames  and  adapting  them  to  the  uses  required.  If  a 
man  lack  the  faculties  of  Color  and  Ideality,  and  the  sense 
of  harmony  and  criticism,  he  will  put  the  wrong  style  of 
frame  to  a  picture,  or  an  improper  frame  to  a  given  sized 
mirror.  But  the  picture-frame  manufacturer  and  dealer 
in  pictures  should  have  as  high  a  degree  of  taste  and  cul 
ture  as  any  of  the  men  with  whom  he  has  occasion  to 
deal.  Then  he  will  please  connoisseurs,  —  his  best  or 
most  difficult  customers,  and  be  able  to  advise  those  who 
have  less  culture  as  to  what  is  appropriate  and  becoming. 
The  manufacturer  of  chandeliers  and  candelabra  and  other 
articles  of  elegance  and  adornment  needs  artistic  taste 
and  mechanical  skill  combined. 


LITEKAKY  CEITICISM.  79 


[manith  fiunmita. 


BOOK-SELLING. 

THIS  business  requires  a  man  of  decided  Mental  temper- 
ament, with  a  good  degree  of  the  Vital  He  need  not 
have  much  of  the  Motive  temperament,  for  it  is  not  hard, 
heavy  work,  but  he  should  have  a  clear,  sharp  mind,  a 
taste  for  books  and  literature.  The  more  intelligence  he 
has,  the  better  he  would  be  capable  of  comprehending  the 
contents  and  quality  of  a  book,  and  of  teaching  or  im- 
pressing these  facts  upon  customers.  If  he  is  competent 
to  write,  it  is  well.  If  he  were  a  poet  or  an  orator,  he 
would  succeed  all  the  better,  because  he  has  to  come  in 
contact  with  that  kind  of  people  who  make  books  and 
enjoy  books.  If  he  could  have  all  the  talents  which  any 
of  them  can  be  supposed  to  possess,  he  could  meet  each 
person  on  his  own  plane.  A  man  who  stands  behind  a 
bookseller's  counter,  and  regards  books  as  so  much  mere 
merchandise,  as  if  he  were  selling  mustard  done  up  in 
bottles,  is  not  fitted  for  his  position.  A  bookseller  should 
be  able  to  run  through  the  contents  of  a  book,  and  read 
here  and  there  a  page,  and  thus  come  en  rapport  with  the 
book. 

LITERARY    CRITICISM. 

To  be  a  successful  bookseller,  one  should  love  books  for 
what  they  contain,  and  know  how  to  talk  them  up,  thereby 


80  DEY-GrOODS. 

creating  an  interest  in  the  minds  of  buyers.  The  most 
eminent  publishing  houses  have  members  of  their  firms 
who  are  writers,  good  critics  of  book-making,  and  are  thus 
able  to  scan  matter  offered  for  publication,  and  to  meet 
authors  and  readers  intelligently. 

A  man  should  understand  literature  and  science  in  order 
to  be  successful  in  the  book  business,  especially  as  a  pub- 
lisher, on  the  same  principle  as  one  should  know  any  other 
article  of  merchandise.  The  cloth  manufacturer  is  the 
best  cloth  seller.  The  tanner  becomes  the  best  shoe-dealer, 
and  one  who  has  served  his  time  at  carpentry  is  just  the 
man  to  keep  a  lumber  yard,  for  he  understands  carpenters 
and  the  materials  they  work  with.  The  time  will  come, 
we  fancy,  when  clerks  will  be  received  into  book  houses  in 
pursuance  of  the  acquisition  of  a  good  rank  in  scholarship. 
They  ought  also  to  possess  enough  of  mechanical  and 
artistic  talent  to  understand  the  quality  of  the  work  con- 
stituting the  make-up  of  a  book  including  the  paper, 
printing,  engraving,  and  binding,  and  also  clear,  far-seeing 
mercantile  capability, — in  short,  good  business  talent  and 
managing  ability.  A  publisher  and  bookseller  should  be 
a  first-class  man. 

DRY-GOODS. 

In  the  sale  of  dry-goods,  one  needs  to  understand  that 
which  he  is  selling.  In  the  retail  trade,  we  believe  that 
women  should  in  the  main  sell  the  dry -goods,  for  they  know 
practically  more  about  the  articles  to  be  dealt  in  than  men 
do;  moreover,  a  lady  customer  often  wishes  to  ask  for 
articles  of  particular  kinds,  or  material  for  special  things, 


JOBBING — SHOPPING.  81 

and  would  much  prefer  to  deal  with  a  woman  than  with  a 
man.  Sometimes  one  wishes  to  ask  advice  as  to  kind  or 
amount  needed  for  certain  uses,  and  a  saleswoman  would 
know  and  a  man  would  not,  and  it  would  be  no  embarrass- 
ment to  ask  her.  Men  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  occupy  a 
place  which  a  woman  could  quite  as  well  and  much  more 
properly  fill.  In  the  wholesale  department,  the  customers, 
being  merchants,  understand  goods  about  as  well,  perhaps 
better,  than  the  jobbers  who  sell  by  the  piece,  and  who 
must  dispose  of  the  styles  and  qualities  according  as  they 
buy  them  from  the  manufacturers. 

JOBBING. 

The  jobber's  business  requires  power  to  read  mind  and 
control  character,  quite  as  much  as  it  does  to  understand 
the  goods  in  which  he  is  dealing.  He  must  mold  and 
manage  the  man  rather  than  dilate  on  the  articles  he  has 
to  sell  The  manufacturer  gets  up  the  styles  and  supplies 
the  market,  and  the  jobber,  who  sells  to  merchants,  must 
sell  what  the  manufacturer  has  furnished,  and  must  sell  at 
such  prices  as  he  can  afford,  being  regulated  in  this  matter 
by  the  cost.  But  when  the  retailer  takes  his  goods  where 
they  are  to  be  worn,  some  patterns  will  not  be  likely  to 
strike  the  fancy  of  many,  and  it  requires  great  skill  to 
dispose  of  the  undesirable  styles.  The  retailer  needs  to 
be  a  lineal  descendant  of  Job  in  respect  to  patience,  with 
a  good  deal  of  Lord  Chesterfield's  politeness,  and  not  a 
little  of  the  meekness  of  Moses. 

SHOPPING. 
If  women  sold  the  dry-goods,  there  would  not  be  half 


82  FANCY  GOODS. 

as  much  mere  "  shopping  "  done  as  at  present.  The  cus- 
tomers then  would  go  to  buy  goods,  not  to  visit  and 
gossip.  Moreover,  blandishments  and  persuasion  on  the 
part  of  fair  customers  would  not  be  so  effective  nor  so 
frequently  tried  as  now  in  order  to  get  goods  cheaply. 
We  recommend  young  men  to  avoid  the  retail  dry- goods 
business.  It  is  imprisonment,  and  one  who  has  spirit  will 
find  it  exceedingly  irksome  to  bear  all  the  hard,  selfish 
criticism  of  the  proprietor  on  the  one  hand,  and  all  the 
caprices  of  his  sharp,  selfish  customers  on  the  other. 
The  consumers  of  dry-goods  generally  know  more  about 
goods,  and  always  think  they  do,  than  the  masculine  strip- 
ling who  sells  them.  He  knows  the  cost  or  market  value 
perhaps  better,  but  does  not  know  half  so  well  as  the 
clear-headed,  motherly  woman  who  wishes  to  buy,  the 
quality  and  absolute  value  of  the  goods  in  question.  He 
thinks  she  is  ignorant  and  green,  and  she  knows  him  to  be 
so.  Nothing  is  more  contemptible  and  vexatious  than  to 
witness  the  winkings  and  smart  sayings  of  a  number  of 
dry-goods  clerks  when  some  persons  are  in  whose  dress  or 
manners  are  not  the  work  of  yesterday.  Good  manners 
are  very  desirable  on  the  part  of  clerks,  but  unfortunately 
not  uniformly  exhibited.  But  some  are  ignorant,  and  the 
unnatural  confinement  makes  them  nervous,  short,  and 
sharp. 

FANCY   GOODS. 

The  sale  of  fancy  goods  requires  taste,  activity,  prompt- 
ness, enterprise,  patience,  and  politeness.  The  dry-goods 
retailer,  and  the  retailer  of  fancy  goods  of  every  descrip- 
tion, need  a  kind  of  poetic  temperament,  made  up  mainly 


HARDWARE.  83 

of  the  Mental  and  Vital,  inducing  mellowness  and  compli- 
ant agreeableness.  He  does  not  need  great  bones,  and 
hard,  strong  muscles,  nor  an  imperious  will  or  stately 
dignity,  for  these  would  be  out  of  place,  and  would  give  a 
kind  of  coarseness  and  positiveness  to  his  character  and 
manners  that  could  not  be  in  harmony  with  such  a  busi- 
ness. Unless  men  are  slender,  delicate,  and  effeminate, 
they  should  not  occupy  a  place  which  could  in  nearly  all 
cases  be  better  filled  by  women. 


HARDWARE. 

Our  ideal  hardware  merchant  has  an  abundance  of  the 
Motive  temperament,  with  iron  in  his  very  blood,  which 
gives  him  dark  hair,  dark  eyes,  and  dark  complexion. 
Such  a  man  will  sympathize  with  iron,  steel,  and  with 
metal  of  all  sorts,  as  something  hard,  enduring,  and  strong. 
He  does  not  want  to  handle  satins,  silks,  rainbows,  and 
gossamer.  He  would  not  know  what  to  do  with  them. 
His  wares,  from  anvils  to  the  finest  cutlery,  have  a  certain 
solidity,  hardness,  and  strength.  He  should  sympathize 
with  these,  just  as  a  good  cook  sympathizes  with  good 
living  through  an  active  appetite,  and  a  knowledge  of  what 
is  good  in  that  line,  or  as  the  music-dealer  sympathizes 
with  music,  or  an  artistic  man  with  works  of  art. 

QUALITIES   NEEDED. 

The  hardware  dealer  should  have  a  long,  strong  back- 
bone, cropping  out  at  Firmness,  giving  him  steadfastness, 
endurance  in  feeling  and  purpose.  He  should  have  a  fair 


84    SECRET  OF  SUCCESS  AKD  FAILUEE. 

degree  of  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness,  to  give  him 
that  kind  of  resolution  required  for  handling  heavy  goods, 
even  in  small  parcels.  He  needs  a  good  muscular  system, 
because  everything  he  handles  is  heavy.  One  who  is 
dealing  in  draperies  needs  grace  and  a  delicate  touch,  but 
he  who  handles  hammers,  files,  locks,  iron,  and  steel-goods 
generally,  requires  a  different  touch  and  different  sensa- 
tions. Moreover,  the  hardware  man  ought  to  have 
mechanical  judgment  or  talent  sufficient  to  manufacture 
anything  he  deals  in.  If  he  have  not,  he  will  never 
understand  them.  He  has  to  deal  with  builders,  and  with 
other  mechanics  whose  tools  he  sells.  The  more  he  knows 
of  their  business  respectively,  and  the  use  of  their  tools, 
the  better  he  can  buy,  and  the  more  intelligently  can  he 
sell  them,  and  the  more  respect  will  he  receive  from  his 
various  customers. 

SECRET   OF   SUCCESS   AND   FAILUEE. 

Two  hardware  dealers,  located  side  by  side,  one  having 
good  mechanical  talent  and  the  other  without,  yet  both 
having  good  sense  and  equal  mercantile  capabilities,  will 
be  found,  at  the  end  of  fifteen  years,  to  have  run  a  very 
different  race.  The  one  who  is  by  nature  a  mechanic  will 
know  what  to  buy,  or  rather  what  to  reject,  and  he  will 
have  in  his  store  a  stock  of  "  live  "  goods.  The  other  will 
buy  all  sorts  of  new  things  which  inventors  highly  recom- 
mend, and  will  consequently  have  a  stock  of  "  dead " 
goods.  One  half  of  the  stuff  he  has  is  unsalable,  and 
hangs  like  a  dead  weight  on  his  hands.  His  profits  are 
wasted  in  the  unwise  purchase  of  unsalable  and  compara- 


SECRET  OF  SUCCESS  AKD  FAILURE.         85 

lively  useless  articles,  while  his  neighbor,  sound  in  his 
mechanical  judgment,  rejects  everything  which  is  not 
useful,  and  needful,  and  appropriate.  The  talents  re- 
quired by  the  manufacturer  are  indispensable  to  high  suc- 
cess in  the  dealer. 

To  be  a  hardware  dealer,  then,  one  needs  something 
besides  mere  mercantile  talent.  Pig  iron,  or  mahogany 
logs  by  the  ton,  are  merchandise ;  but  when  this  ton  of 
pig-iron  has  been  sent  to  the  factory,  and  comes  back  in 
the  form  of  locks,  cutlery,  tools  of  all  descriptions,  in  short, 
in  a  good  variety  of  hardware  goods,  it  is  still  merchan- 
dise, but  the  qualities  which  the  mechanic  has  imparted 
must  be  comprehended  by  the  hardware  dealer,  or  he  is 
not  fit  to  be  a  merchant  in  hardware.  When  the  logs  of 
mahogany  and  rosewood,  which  in  the  raw  state  are  also 
valuable  as  merchandise,  come  back  from  the  factory  in  all 
conceivable  forms  of  furniture  and  articles  of  taste  and 
utility,  it  requires  quite  another  class  of  faculties  to  com- 
prehend the  new  elements  of  commercial  value  which  the 
ingenuity  and  elegant  taste  of  the  manufacturer  have 
added,  and  a  want  of  these  in  the  merchant  will  be  fatal 
to  his  success. 

The  sale  of  raw  material,  such  as  cotton  by  the  bale, 
wool  by  the  sack,  iron  by  the  ton,  or  timber  in  the  log,  is 
one  thing ;  it  is  quite  another  to  sell  clothing,  hardware, 
and  furniture.  To  sell  these  manufactured  goods  of  any 
description,  one  needs  a  mechanical  mind,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  comprehend  the  intricacies  pertaining  to  them.  Hence, 
as  we  have  said,  the  .best  dealer  in  cloth  or  clothing  is  the 
cloth  manufacturer;  so  the  best  hardware  dealer  is  one 


86  THE  LUMBER  DEALER. 

who  has  learned  the  machinist's,  or  locksmith's,  or  the  tool- 
maker's  trade.  One  who  could  make  everything  he  has  to 
sell  will  at  least  understand  it  thoroughly,  and  then,  if  he 
have  mercantile  talent  added,  with  good  manners  and 
good  general  judgment,  he  will  succeed.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  though  some  special  talents  are  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  bookseller,  hardware  dealer,  or  dry-goods 
dealer,  general  judgment  of  men  and  things,  good  culture, 
and  good  address  are  by  no  means  unimportant. 

THE    LUMBER    DEALER. 

The  lumber  dealer  is  not  always  a  manufacturer  of  lum- 
ber. One  man  with  his  strength,  energy,  perseverance, 
and  endurance,  having  prominent  features,  great  bones 
and  muscles,  is  the  one  who  properly  fells  the  trees,  and 
rafts  them  through  rivers  and  lakes  to  the  place  where  they 
are  to  be  cut  into  boards.  This  is  pioneer  business,  requir- 
ing a  large  brain,  strong  will,  comprehensive  as  well  as 
practical  judgment,  and  power  to  control  men.  A  man 
who  would  be  a  brave  soldier  or  an  excellent  seaman 
would  be  the  one  to  do  this. 

To  cut  and  prepare  this  lumber  for  market  requires 
mechanical  ingenuity  to  use  the  sawing  mills,  the  planers, 
the  groovers,  or  the  molding  cutters.  He  who  is  not 
capable  of  managing  such  machinery  wisely,  or  using  it 
with  skill,  should  keep  away  from  the  business. 

THE   SALESMAN   OF   LUMBER. 

Then  there  is  the  lumber  seller;  he  needs  large  percep- 


THE  GROCER.  87 

tive  organs,  so  as  to  be  a  quick  inspector,  that  he  may  see 
ten  feet  off,  by  the  complexion  and  appearance  of  a  pine 
board,  whether  it  be  rich,  soft,  mellow,  and  right  for  nice 
work,  or  whether  it  be  tough  and  contrary,  like  spruce  or 
hemlock  timber. 

Lumber  is  sorted  into  several  grades,  and  one  of  these 
bright,  positive,  driving  men,  with  a  quick  temperament 
and  large  perceptives,  will  handle  a  cargo  of  what  he 
would  buy  as  second-class  lumber,  pass  it  rapidly  piece  by 
piece  in  critical  review,  and  assign  now  and  then  a  board 
to  the  first  quality,  and  so  get  out  enough  of  the  first  or 
higher  grade  to  make  all  the  profit  he  needs  to  make  on 
the  whole  cargo,  the  regular  profits  being  extra  and  gain 
clear. 

The  lumber  dealer  should  be  familiar  with  carpentry, 
with  the  uses  to  which  boards  of  every  kind  and  tim- 
bers of  all  sizes  are  adapted,  so  that  he  shall  not  seem 
selfish,  or  false  in  his  statements  when  talking  with  build- 
ers. The  retention  of  the  good  opinion  of  the  customers 
is  a  great  point  gained.  If  a  man  through  ignorance  calls 
third-rate  stuff  first-rate,  and  thinks  this  or  that  will  do 
for  certain  purposes  when  the  user  of  the  material  knows 
better,  he  thinks  the  dealer  is  either  a  knave  or  a  fool,  and 
a  man  should  be  neither  in  any  business. 

THE    GROCER 

requires  a  good  development  of  the  Vital  and  Motive  tem- 
peraments, so  that  he  will  be  able  to  work  hard  and  work 
quickly.  He  should  have,  relatively,  more  body  than  brain, 


88      TALENTS  AND  TRIALS  OF  THE  GROCER. 

so  that  he  will  not  need  so  much  sleep  as  do  those  large- 
headed  bookish  men,  for  grocers  keep  long  hours  —  un- 
wisely, we  think.  We  see  no  reason  why  people  should 
buy  groceries  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  as  in  cities  many 
do.  If  every  man  would  close  at  nine  o'clock,  as  some 
greedy,  selfish  ones  would  not,  all  the  groceries  could  be 
bought  at  reasonable  hours.  Grocers  must  start  early,  and 
be  driving  and  enterprising.  They  must  be  able  to  talk 
quickly,  decide  quickly,  and  do  up  parcels  quickly,  for 
when  they  have  a  dozen  customers  waiting  they  must 
work  rapidly,  and  tell  short  stories.  People  who  buy 
groceries  frequently  leave  their  politeness  at  home.  In 
purchasing  clothing,  fancy  goods,  articles  of  style  and 
elegance,  a  person's  Approbativeness  and  Ideality — the 
faculties  of  taste  and  good  breeding — are  uppermost  in 
activity  and  influence.  But  when  going  from  the  kitchen 
to  buy  groceries,  they  carry  with  them  a  kind  of  kitchen 
manners,  sometimes,  which  are  offensive  to  the  dealer,  if 
he  be  a  man  of  taste  and  refinement.  Hence,  we  say  a 
grocer  should  have  a  pretty  thick  skin  in  one  respect.  He 
should  not  care  much  what  people  say  in  the  way  of  crit- 
icism and  fault-finding.  He  should  be  good-natured, 
happy,  cheerful,  free  and  easy,  and  at  the  same  time  gen- 
tlemanly. He  should  not  answer  back,  or  he  will  not  be 
likely  to  succeed.  We  have  known  many  persons  who 
were,  when  dressed  and  in  society,  or  purchasing  articles 
for  the  parlor,  the  library,  or  wardrobe,  quite  ladylike, 
while  at  other  times  they  would  throw  a  shawl  over  the 
head,  and  in  the  dusk  of  evening  run  around  to  the 
grocery,  and  talk  to  the  attendant  as  they  would  not  think 


IMPOKTHSTG.  89 

of  doing  if  nicely  dressed,  and  purchasing  goods  which 
appeal  to  the  sense  of  elegance  and  refinement.  We  will 
not  stop  to  criticise  ladies  who  forget  to  be  ladies,  but 
simply  show  that  a  grocer  must  bear  these  abuses,  sus- 
tained by  this  consolation,  viz.,  that  when  persons  are 
buying  things  for  the  body  or  stomach,  and  not  for  the 
gratification  of  the  refined  elements  of  their  nature,  they 
are  apt  to  forget  that  which  belongs  to  good  breeding. 

The  grocer  needs  all  the  Christian  graces,  and  an  excel- 
lent constitution,  sound  health,  courage,  energy,  activity, 
and  Acquisitiveness  enough  to  do  hard  and  thankless  work 
for  small  profits.  Such  a  man  will  make  a  fortune. 

Grocers  are  very  liable  to  become  dyspeptics,  partly 
from  irregular  meals,  but  chiefly  because  they  are  liable  to 
be  nibbling  all  day.  When  weighing  up  sugar,  raisins, 
cloves,  cinnamon  and  other  spices;  tea,  dried  fruit,  crack- 
ers, etc.,  thcy'eat  a  little  of  each,  and  thus  keep  the  stom- 
ach in  a  feverish  and  unnatural  condition,  until  it  breaks 
down.  This  habit  should  be  reformed  altogether. 

THE    IMPORTER. 

needs  to  understand  political  economy,  the  laws  of  ex- 
change, trade,  and  commerce,  and  especially  the  laws  of 
banking  and  finance.  He  need  not  go  very  largely  into 
detail.  He  deals  by  the  cargo,  seldom  or  never  breaks  a 
case  or  a  bale  of  goods,  and  sells  to  substantial  firms, 
known  to  the  market,  whose  paper  will  be  redeemed  at 
maturity ;  and  a  man  who  has  talent  for  banking  has  one 
essential  element  required  for  the  importer.  He  must 


90  FINANCIERING. 

think  of  the  prospect  of  productive  crops ;  he  must  know 
the  quantity  of  certain  goods  in  the  market ;  the  prospect 
of  home  manufacture ;  the  laws  of  importation,  demand, 
and  supply,  and  these  plans  must  be  drawn  months,  some- 
times a  year  or  more,  in  advance.  He  must  have  'such 
comprehensiveness  of  mind  as  to  be  able  to  take  in  a 
broad  field  of  thought,  make  large  operations,  and  deal  in 
heavy  amounts.  He  must  take  into  account  the  probabili- 
ties of  war  or  peace,  and  a  great  many  things  with  which 
*the  retail  dealer  has  scarcely  anything  to  do.  The  im- 
porter should  have  a  large  head,  a  broad,  heavy  forehead, 
and  a  cool,  strong  temperament. 


FINANCIERING. 

This  pursuit  requires  a  calm  and  equable  temperament, 
which  has  strength  as  a  basis  for  patience,  perseverance, 
and  uniformity  of  feeling  and  action.  It  requires  clear- 
ness without  much  excitability.  One  should  have  enough 
caution  to  keep  always  on  the  safe  side,  guarding  against 
"  corners "  and  tight  times,  giving  a  tendency  to  keep  a 
good  balance  in  bank,  and,  as  a  driver  would  say  of  his 
team,  to  keep  the  business  "  well  in  hand." 

One  should  have  a  full  degree  of  Hope,  to  modify  the 
action  of  Cautiousness,  and  aid  in  imparting  patience 
under  depressing  circumstances.  A  financier  should  have 
courage  to  face  difficulties  and  act  boldly  in  emergencies  ; 
Firmness,  to  give  steadfast  strength  under  trials ;  and  Self- 
Esteem,  to  give  self-confidence  and  independent  action ; 
strong  Causality,  to  comprehend  consequences,  plan  wisely, 


THE  SALESMAN.  91 

and  with  reference  to  the  future.  He  should  have  a  good 
development  of  the  perceptive  organs,  and  an  excellent 
memory,  so  as  to  take  into  account  all  the  facts  which 
belong  to  his  business  and  retain  them  for  future  use. 

The  financier  and  importer  have  much  in  common.  He 
should  have  Calculation  large,  that  he  may  be  quick  and 
correct  in  figures,  and  have  enough  Acquisitiveness  to  give 
him  a  desire  for  gain  and  a  sense  of  value,  of  profit  and 
loss. 

THE   CASHIER 

requires  large  perceptives,  a  very  active  mind,  with  Order 
and  Calculation  and  many  of  the  traits  which  belong  to 
the  financier;  but  the  cashier  needs  to  be  more  rapid  than 
the  planning  financier.  These  two  functions  are  frequently 
combined  in  the  same  person. 

THE    SALESMAN. 

Of  late  years  there  has  been  a  great  rush  of  young  men 
toward  merchandizing,  a  fact  arising  partly  from  the  sup- 
position that  it  is  easier  than  farming  or  mechanism; 
partly,  perhaps,  from  another  supposition,  that  it  carries 
with  it  greater  respectability,  or  that  it  affords  a  surer  and 
shorter  way  to  wealth  than  any  other  calling.  Some  suc- 
ceed— many  fail ;  those  who  are  adapted  to  it  succeed,  and 
thousands  of  honest,  well-meaning,  industrious  young  men, 
after  a  vain  struggle  of  years  for  position  as  salesmen,  drift 
away  into  whatever  business  may  offer  itself,  and  thus  life 
becomes  to  them,  practically,  a  failure ;  for  he  who  wastes 
the  years  between  seventeen  and  twenty-five  in  endeavor- 


92  QUALITIES  FOR  A  SALESMAN. 

ing  to  secure  success  in  a  business,  and  finds  at  last  that 
he  is  obliged  to  take  up  with  something  else,  is  very 
likely  to  become  discouraged  and  disinclined  to  devote 
such  study  and  labor  upon  a  new  and  appropriate  business 
as  will  be  requisite  for  success. 

There  are  instances,  however,  in  which  men  have  en- 
tered upon  a  new  career  at  thirty,  and  taken  eminent  rank ; 
but  such  men,  we  fancy,  have  the  developments  which 
qualify  them  for  almost  anything.  As  some  plows  can 
turn  a  furrow  but  one  way,  other  plows  are  constructed 
to  turn  a  furrow  either  way ;  some  men  have  a  few  facul- 
ties adapting  them  to  certain  specific  pursuits,  while  others 
are  able  to  turn  a  furrow  either  way,  and  succeed  equally 
well.  We  have  no  doubt  that  a  salesman  would  be  all 
the  better,  as  such,  by  having  every  faculty  amply  devel- 
oped and  well  cultivated.  Most  men,  however,  are  but 
partially  developed,  and  to  secure  success  in  the  midst  of 
strife  and  rivalry,  they  need  to  use  their  strongest  faculties 
in  order  to  take  and  maintain  a  good  position. 

QUALITIES    REQUIRED   IN   A   SALESMAN. 

The  salesman  requires,  first,  an  active  temperament, 
and  a  clear,  quick  intellect,  that  he  may  be  able  to  under- 
stand the  qualities  of  goods  and  qualified  to  explain  their 
virtues  and  value  to  the  buyer ;  and  ample  development 
of  Language  is  necessary  to  render  the  address  easy  .and 
the  power  of  description  good ;  large  Form  and  Color  to 
remember  faces  so  as  to  recognize  a  customer  a  second 
time,  and  also  to  judge  of  form  and  proportion  and  color 
in  goods.  One  should  also  have  large  Eventuality,  to 


INTEGRITY  is  TKADE.  93 

retain  all  the  facts  relative  to  business  in  general,  or  to 
former  transactions  with  a  given  customer.  The  salesman 
also  should  have  good  moral  development,  a  love  of  truth 
and  integrity,  remembering  that  honesty,  even  in  traffic,  in 
the  long  run,  wins ;  while  trick,  and  sharpness,  and  dishon- 
esty, with  as  many  prices  as  there  are  customers,  is  sure 
to  bankrupt  the  man,  if  not  in  pocket  at  least  in  character, 

but  most  frequently  also  in  pocket. 

• 

INTEGRITY   IN  TRADE. 

Our  settled  conviction,  from  many  years'  close  observa- 
tion, is,  that  whoever,  having  sound  sense  and  business 
capability,  with  good  address  and  a  genial  disposition, 
shall  tell  the  truth  and  give  honest  measure  for  an  honest 
price,  will  win  customers  and  fortune.  In  the  hardest 
street  in  the  hardest  city  an  honest,  truth-telling  trader 
will  soon  be  found  out  and  resorted  to,  certainly  by  those 
who  are  truthful,  and  generally  also  by  those  who  do  not 
feel  themselves  sharp  enough  to  trade  with  tricksters. 

FRIENDSHIP    IN   TRADE. 

It  is  sometimes  said  "  there  is  no  friendship  in  trade." 
There  was  never  a  greater  fallacy.  A  man  who  has  a 
strong  social  nature  has  a  magnetic  attraction  for  people ; 
and  he  who  can  give  a  hearty  welcome,  a  warm  palm,  and 
a  firm  grasp  to  customers,  will  win  them  and  hold  them. 
Suppose  a  man  has  traveled  night  and  day,  among  stran- 
gers, a  thousand  miles  to  a  great  market  town.  He  has 
left  his  family  and  friends,  and  his  heart  is  hungry.  He 
remembers,  perhaps,  a  salesman  who  is  cheerful,  and  has 


94  FKIEKDSHIP  IN  TKADE. 

» 

shown  himself  friendly;  and  when  he  crosses  his  thresh- 
old, his  heart  bounds  with  delight  as,  with  a  smile  like  a 
sunburst,  that  man  takes  him  heartily  by  the  hand,  and  in 
a  moment  becomes  to  him,  as  it  were,  a  substitute  for  the 
family  and  friends  that  he  has  left  behind,  and  it  only 
remains  to  select  the  goods ;  they  are  already  sold,  and 
if  the  man  be  honest,  and  name  only  fair  prices  for  the 
goods,  why  should  not  that  man  be  a  life-long  customer  ? 
who  could  win  him  away  or  hinder  him  from  bringing  his 
own  friends  to  be  well  treated,  and  become  permanent 
customers?  Suppose  a  salesman  has  five  hundred  such. 
They  can  not  be  coaxed  away  from  him,  unless  goods  are 
offered  at  prices  below  their  market  value  by  others.  Sup- 
pose he  travels  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  seeking  new 
customers.  His  intelligence  opens  the  way,  but  his  cor- 
dial, friendly  spirit  enables  him  to  consummate  his  errand. 
The  cold,  stern,  stanch,  dignified  man,  grim  and  severe 
in  his  manners,  may  be  able  to  sell  drugs  to  sick  people, 
or  articles  of  necessity,  where  there  is  little  or  no  compe- 
tition; but  in  a  large  market  town  such  a  man  would 
freeze  out  his  prosperity.  Occasionally  such  a  man  is  wise 
enough  to  get  a  warm-hearted,  sympathetic,  genial  man  to 
sell  his  goods,  and  thus  he  secures  prosperity  through  the 
influence  of  his  capital. 

GENERAL  MASTNERS. 

The  salesman  needs  Approbativeness,  to  give  him  a  de- 
sire to  please.  He  needs  a  knowledge  of  human  character, 
along  with  a  spirit  of  agreeableness ;  and  if  he  is  selling 
articles  of  taste,  works  of  art,  or  things  of  elegance,  he 


PECULIAR  TALENTS  KEQUIRED.  95 

needs  large  Ideality,  to  appreciate  and  describe  them.  If 
lie  sells  furniture,  clothing,  and  especially  hardware,  he 
needs  large  Constructiveness  and  large  perceptive  organs, 
to  give  him  mechanical  judgment  to  understand  and  prop- 
erly describe  the  goods  he  has  to  sell.  No  man  should 
attempt  to  sell  manufactured  goods  who  has  not  nearly  or 
quite  enough  mechanical  talent  to  succeed  in  manufactur- 
ing them. 

To  sell  books,  one  requires  a  literary  taste,  that  he  may 
appreciate  the  works  he  has  for  sale.  Everybody  sup 
poses  that  the  man  who  sells  birds,  dogs,  or  horses  must 
be  a  fancier  of  those  animals,  that  he  may  have  a  heart  in 
the  work,  and  be  intelligent  in  respect  to  them ;  and  that 
one  who  sells  pianos,  and  other  musical  instruments, 
should  have  musical  taste  and  culture.  This  law  applies 
to  literary  and  scientific  works  as  much  as  it  does  in  the 
sphere  of  mechanism.  One  should  have  a  full  degree  of 
Acquisitiveness  to  be  successful  as  a  trader,  that  he  may 
bear  in  mind  the  value  of  the  small  amount  which  may 
constitute  his  profit,  and  also  that  he  may  know  that  his 
customer  will  not  bear  too  high  a  price.  Men  with  little 
or  no  Acquisitiveness  frequently  will  ask  two  prices  for  an 
article,  thinking  that  their  customer  perhaps  cares  so  little 
for  his  money  that  he  will  pay  the  exorbitant  charge.  We 
have  noticed  that  spendthrifts  are  apt  to  charge  enormous 
prices  for  their  services ;  while  a  man  who  values  a  dollar 
for  all  that  it  is  worth  will  do  a  good  deal  of  work  for  a 
dollar,  for  he  is  so  anxious  to  get  something,  that  he  will 
sell  goods  at  a  small  profit  that  he  may  get  a  profit.  If 
we  desire  to  obtain  anything  at  a  low  figure,  we  go  to  a 


96  BOOK-KEEPING. 

man  who  thinks  much  of  a  dollar,  for  we  are  sure  that  he 
will  sell  his  goods  as  low  as  they  can  be  afforded,  to 
secure  our  patronage. 

The  salesman,  then,  needs  intelligence,  talking  talent, 
knowledge  of  character,  integrity,  manly  sympathy,  and 
strong  affection ;  and  to  sell  goods,  he  needs  the  very  qual- 
ities which  are  requisite  to  the  production  of  the  articles 
he  has  to  sell 


BOOK-KEEPING. 

When  a  young  man,  desiring  a  situation  that  is  pleasant 
and  profitable,  looks  through  the  range  of  business  occu- 
pations, and  finds  one  man  sweating  and  begrimed  with 
dust  and  dirt,  toiling  at  some  laborious  trade,  he  instinct- 
ively recoils ;  but  when  he  finds  another,  in  a  cool  and  airy 
office  or  store,  neatly  dressed,  of  gentle  manners,  with 
everything  tidy,  quiet,  and  respectable  about  him,  perhaps 
waiting  upon  a  customer,  disposing  of  some  article  of  ele- 
gance or  luxury,  or  perchance  standing  at  a  desk,  with 
ledger  and  daybook  open  before  him,  and  everything 
around  wearing  an  air  of  wealth  and  quiet  respectability, 
he  is  instinctively  attracted  to  it,  and  a  desire  is  awakened 
in  him  to  be  a  salesman  or  a  book-keeper.  He  does  not 
inquire  whether  or  not  he  is  well  adapted  by  nature,  edu- 
cation, and  habit  to  either  position.  He  does  not  stop  to 
analyze  the  patience,  the  nerve-shattering  labor,  the  head- 
work,  the  heartaches,  the  rivalries,  the  competitions,  frets, 
and  jealousies  which  may  form  a  part  of  such  an  elegant 
life,  as  hg  imagines  it  to  be. 


TEMPERAMENT  AND  TALENT.  97 

So  long  as  business  is  done,  there  must  be  book-keeping. 
It  requires  brains  and  integrity,  and  a  fair  degree  of  talent 
and  culture  to  fill  such  a  position.  It  is  important  and 
respectable,  and  good  men,  and  only  good  men,  should  fill 
such  a  post.  What,  then,  is  required  to  qualify  a  man  to 
be  a  good  book-keeper. 

TEMPERAMENT. 

He  should  have  enough  of  the  Mental  temperament  to 
give  a  studious  tendency,  as  well  as  clearness  and  activity 
of  mind.  There  should  be  also  a  good  development  of  the 
Vital  temperament, — not  that  phase  of  it  which  gives  a . 
man  broad  shoulders  and  a  deep  chest  with  a  small  abdo- 
men, but  that  which  gives  one  a  rather  large  digestive  ap- 
paratus and  a  tendency  toward  the  lymphatic,  the  quiet, 
the  patient,  the  moderate.  One  who  is  not  anxious  to 
knock  about  and  be  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  but  one 
who  can  bear  confinement  without  weariness,  and  mental 
labor  without  nervousness.  The  plump,  genial,  easy-going 
man  should  be  the  book-keeper,  yet  he  should  have  intel- 
lectual force  enough  to  make  him  scholarly,  thoughtful, 
and  skillful.  He  does  not  need  a  large  base  of  brain  ;  the 
less  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  he  has  the  better. 

BODILY   REQUIREMENTS. 

It  has  often  been  a  matter  of  question  with  us  whether 
it  were  proper  for  stalwart,  vigorous  men  to  keep  books 
— to  stand  or  sit  at  a  desk  making  a  record  of  transactions 
when  they  are  so  well  qualified  to  strike  out  manfully  and 
make  transactions  to  be  recorded.  Why  not  give  place  to 

5 


98  BOOK-KEEPER'S  TALENT. 

the  lame,  the  slender,  or  to  women  who  have  the  requisite 
brain  and  bodily  strength  for  this  vocation,  and  go  out 
like  men  and  win  manly  success  in  more  active  pursuits  ? 
A  strong  man  with  vigorous  health  and  limbs,  and  brain 
enough  to  keep  accounts,  can  rise  above  the  best  achieve- 
ments of  book-keeping  as  a  profession.  Those  who  are 
engaged  in  it  should  look  beyond  it,  and  work  and  hope 
for  a  higher,  wider,  and  more  remunerative  place  in  the 
business  world*  We  speak  not  merely  of  copyists  and 
scribes  who  have  no  talent  for  anything  else,  but  of  those 
first-class  accountants  who  have  clear  minds  and  strong 
bodies.  These  can  grow  out  of,  and  advance  higher  than 
to  record  other  persons'  transactions.  He  who  possesses, 
in  addition  to  the  talents  required  by  the  accountant,  those 
talents  and  forces  which  enable  one  to  guide  and  control 
men,  to  wield  large  business  operations,  should  make  the 
contracts,  mold  and  manage  the  customers,  and  let  the 
record  be  made  by  others  who  can  not,  as  yet,  fill  his  place. 

TALENT   REQUIRED. 

In  the  matter  of  talent,  the  book-keeper  should  have  an 
ample  development  of  Calculation,  for  this  is  indispensable 
to  perform  the  necessary  amount  of  figuring  with  accuracy 
and  dispatch.  The  book-keeper  must  not  make  mistakes, 
and  if  he  have  the  genius  to  run  up  two  or  three  columns 
of  figures  at  the  same  time,  and  to  work  out  rapidly  in  the 
head  the  calculations  which  are  necessary  in  order  to  make 
extensions  in  accounts,  all  the  better.  He  needs  large 
Eventuality,  that  he  may  carry  in  his  mind  the  history  of 
the  customers  and  the  transactions  of  the  house.  If  he 


MOKAL  CHARACTER.  99 

fail  in  this,  he  will  be  always  neglecting  something  which 
ought  to  be  done,  or  doing  wrongly  many  things.  He 
should  have  large  Order,  to  make  him  systematic  and  neat. 
His  organs  of  Form,  Imitation,  and  Constructiveness 
should  be  large,  to  give  him  the  mechanical  talent  requi- 
site for  handsome  penmanship,  and  the  disposition  to  com- 
bine and  tabulate  the  business  in  such  a  way  that  the 
transactions  of  different  months  and  years  can  be  spread 
out  on  a  given  page,  so  as  to  show  at  a  glance  the  ag- 
gregate and  comparative  business  of  many  months  and 
years. 

Cautiousness  should  be  large  enough  to  keep  the  mind 
wakeful  relative  to  dangers  and  mistakes ;  and  if  the  book- 
keeper have  large  Causality  and  Comparison,  to  give  the 
necessary  generalizing  judgment,  combined  with  prudence, 
which  is  necessary  to  the  practical  guidance  and  manage- 
ment of  business,  he  will  be  prepared  to  give  a  note  of 
warning  to  the  proprietors,  who  are  absorbed  in  buying 
and  selling,  whenever  the  capital  has  become  too  much 
spread,  or  when  "  bills  receivable "  bear  not  the  proper 
relation  to  "  bills  payable." 

If  one  is  merely  a  book-keeper,  and  simply  makes  a 
record  of  transactions  without  any  comprehensive  thought 
relative  to  the  soundness  of  the  business  which  his  work 
represents,  he  will  lack  elements  necessary  to  the  highest 
order  of  success. 

MORAL   STATUS. 

The  book-keeper,  moreover,  should  have  enough  Ac- 
quisitiveness and  Conscientiousness,  the  former  to  give  a 
keen  sense  of  the  law  of  profit  and  loss,  so  that  if  business 


100          MANNERS  AS  WELL  AS  MORALS. 

is  going  behindhand,  or  is  conducted  in  a  manner  not 
profitable,  he  shall  be  apprised  of  it  and  give  the  alarm. 
It  will  also  tend  to  make  him  sharp  in  making  collections, 
and  in  seeing  to  it  that  his  leniency  does  not  damage  the 
concern.  His  Conscientiousness  should  give  him  unquali- 
fied integrity  of  purpose,  especially  if  he  have  also  the  posi- 
tion of  cashier.  With  Conscientiousness  and  Cautious- 
ness, to  give  prudence  and  integrity,  and  enough  of  Ac- 
quisitiveness and  reasoning  power,  to  appreciate  what  is  fit 
and  proper  to  be  done,  a  man  will  not  be  likely  to  permit 
himself  to  engage  in  any  speculations,  or  in  any  use  of 
other  people's  money,  even  innocently,  that  might  jeopard 
his  reputation  or  the  soundness  of  the  house.  Defalcations 
do  not  always  begin  with  dishonesty,  but  with  excessive 
Hope  and  deficient  Cautiousness.  One  who  has  in  his 
very  organization  the  feeling,  "  touch  not,  handle  not " 
other  people's  money  for  personal  uses,  has  the  right  and 
only  safe  principle.  Defalcations  probably  do  not  gener- 
ally commence  in  rascality,  but  in  that  incautious,  extra- 
hopeful  riskiness  which  men  sometimes  permit  themselves 
to  indulge  in  to  make  money  for  themselves  with  the  idle 
capital  belonging  to  the  concern  that  employs  them. 

MANNERS    AS   WELL   AS   MORALS. 

The  book-keeper  should  have  large  Continuity  and 
Firmness,  to  give  him  patience  and  steadfastness.  He 
should  have  Benevolence  and  Veneration,  to  give  him 
kindness  and  respect,  that  he  may  be  popular,  conciliating, 
and  placable.  A  man  who  has  to  make  bills  and  receipt 
them,  who  has  collections  to  make  and  moneys  to  disburse, 


BROKEN  HEALTH  OF  MERCHANTS.         101 

needs  nearly  all  the  Christian  graces  to  fill  his  position  ac- 
ceptably. If,  like  a  bull-dog,  he  stands  at  the  strong  box 
and  snarls  at  every  man  who  presents  a  bill  for  payment, 
he  does  injustice  to  his  employers,  injury  to  the  business, 
and  renders  himself  unpopular,  and  all  the  patrons  of  the 
house  unhappy.  Affability,  courtesy,  dignity,  and  defer- 
ence on  the  part  of  a  book-keeper  will  win  respect,  secure 
patronage,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  success. 

HEALTH  OF  CLERKS  AND  MERCHANTS. 

No  fact  is  more  apparent  than  the  general  diminution 
of  health  and  bodily  energy  among  our  merchants,  clerks, 
and  book-keepers.  This  is  owing  partly,  perhaps,  to  an 
improper  mode  of  living,  such  as  hastily  eating  a  dinner 
and  immediately  devoting  the  entire  mind  and  nervous 
energy  to  the  prosecution  of  business ;  or,  long-continued 
mental  effort  without  proper  food;  deprivation  of  the 
proper  amount  of  sleep ;  the  habit  of  smoking,  etc. ;  but 
we  apprehend  much  of  the  difficulty  may  be  traced  to  a 
want  of  proper  physical  exercise. 

When  a  young  man  enters  upon  a  mercantile  career  he 
is  occupied  for  a  time  as  an  errand  boy,  and  is,  of  course, 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  servant  for  the  whole  establishment. 
While  this  relation  continues,  he  has  a  ruddy  face,  a  bound- 
ing pulse,  vigorous  digestion,  and  unqualified  health ;  but 
<>n  as  he  takes  a  higher  position,  and  another  lad  is  in- 
itiated into  his  old  situation,  his  pride  and  ambition  lead 
him  to  look  upon  the  one  occupying  his  former  place  as  in 
college  the  Sophomore  looks  upon  the  Freshman,  and  he 


102  AMBITION  OF  CLEEKS. 

consequently  takes  special  pains  to  avoid  all  drudgery  and 
to  keep  his  eye  in  that  direction  which  will  lead  him  to  a 
set  of  books,  or  to  an  equally  active  and  exclusive  exercise 
of  his  mental  powers  as  a  salesman.  His  chief  study  is  to 
work  with  the  brain,  and  not  with  the  hands ;  to  become  a 
gentleman,  and  not  a  drudge.  The  consequence  of  a  dis- 
use of  the  muscles  and  the  avoidance  of  that  energetic  effort 
which  induces  copious  breathing,  a  free  circulation  of  the 
blood,  and  good  digestion,  is  a  prostration  of  the  youthful 
health  and  vigor  of  the  body.  The  cheek  becomes  pale 
and  thin ;  the  eyes  seem  large  and  glaring ;  the  hands,  in- 
stead of  being  warm  and  plump  and  smooth,  become  cold, 
blue,  and  bony;  the  muscles  become  weak,  the  lungs 
small,  and  the  chest  flat.  The  waist  and  abdomen  shrink 
away,  especially  under  the  pressure  of  modern  pantaloons ; 
the  pulse  becomes  feeble,  and  general  weakness  of  the  en- 
tire system  supervenes ;  and  who  will  wonder  if  he  feels 
a  strong  disinclination  for  any  active,  laborious  effort  ? 
The  brain  and  nervous  system,  of  course,  become  excited, 
and  he  expends  through  them  nearly  all  the  vital  energy 
which,  in  its  present  condition,  his  body  is  able  to  manu- 
facture. The  result  is,  he  becomes  prematurely  old,  and 
breaks  down ;  and  the  mercantile  profession  is  blamed  for 
the  ruin  that  is  wrought.  Now  salesmen,  and  book- 
keepers especially,  should  understand  at  the  start  that  if 
they  would  maintain  their  health  in  following  a  pursuit 
requiring  so  little  of  physical  energy,  they  must  establish 
some  system  of  daily  physical  exercise,  for  it  is  a  law  of 
nature  that  that  which  is  not  employed  will  become  weak. 
The  tree,  even,  that  stands  in  the  forest  and  is  sheltered 


RETIRING  FKOM  BUSINESS.  103 

from  the  fury  of  the  blast,  grows  slim,  loose-grained,  and 
soft,  and  has  but  few  roots;  while  the  oak  that  stands 
alone  on  the  hill-top  and  must  resist  every  storm,  from 
whatever  quarter,,  becomes  solid  in  its  texture,  stout  in 
trunk,  and  abundant  in  fruit,  lifting  aloft  its  sturdy  arms 
and  bidding  defiance  to  every  gale. 

Let  clerks  repudiate  this  false  pride  which  lifts  them 
above  the  work  of  the  porter  and  packer,  and  take  a  turn 
at  nailing  up  and  rolling  boxes,  and  pulling  at  the  wind- 
la-s,  and  they  will  find  themselves  improved  in  health  and 
manliness ;  or,  let  them  supply  themselves  with  dumb-bells, 
and  use  them  morning  and  night,  or  have  a  pair  also  in  the 
counting-room,  which  they  can  use  for  five  minutes  at  a 
time  when  the  head  becomes  hot,  the  brain  feverish,  and 
every  nerve  seems  to  be  on  fire ;  and  in  three  months'  time 
many  of  them  would  gain  ten  or  fifteen  pounds  in  weight 
and  fifty  per  cent,  in  real  vigor  and  health,  and  be  able  to 
do  even  more  business  than  before,  and  that  with  less  of 
mental  and  nervous  friction.  Hundreds  of  merchants  in 
our  large  cities  who  have  risen  from  poverty  to  a  position 
through  unwearied  and  nerve-shattering  effort,  are  obliged, 
on  account  of  dyspepsia,  nervous  prostration,  a  rush  of 
blood  to  the  brain,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  or  some  kin- 
dred derangement,  to  retire  from  business  at  thirty  or 
thirty-five,  and  spend  the  remainder  of  their  lives  as  groan- 
ing invalids,  or  go  to  early  graves  with  their  great  destiny 
of  life  unfulfilled.  They  started  to  acquire  position.  This 
they  have  done ; — to  obtain  wealth,  this  they  have  com- 
menced to  do,  but  have  failed  to  achieve  it.  They  expected 
to  retire,  but  not  with  a  broken  constitution  and  a  slender 


104  How  TO  SAVE  HEALTH. 

fortune,  but  with  robust  health,  and  rosy  cheeks,  without 
a  wrinkle  or  gray  hair.  This  they  might  have  done  had 
they  understood  the  laws  of  health  and  not  been  too  proud 
or  too  intensely  occupied  to  have  obeyed  them. 

But,  in  using  dumb-bells,  we  would  caution  those  who 
are  young,  slender,  and  in  their  growing  season,  not  to  use 
those  which  are  too  heavy.  Many  suppose  that  the  object 
in  using  them  is  to  show  how  much  weight  they  can  lift? 
and  how  heavy  ones  they  can  wield.  In  the  first  place, 
those  who  need  them  most  are  not  in  a  condition  to  use 
those  that  are  very  heavy ;  nor,  after  a  trial  or  two,  would 
they  feel  inclined  to  make  the  necessary  exertion ;  besides, 
it  would  tend  to  fatigue  and  exhaust,  rather  than  to  give 
them  strength.  Who  would  put  a  colt  before  a  heavily 
loaded  dray  if  he  wished  to  promote  his  growth  and 
strength  ?  still,  he  should  have  exercise,  and  as  much  of 
labor  as  his  constitution  will  bear.  This  he  could  obtain 
attached  to  a  light  vehicle,  and  make  up  the  sum  of  his 
effort  in  a  more  rapid  motion.  A  young  man  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  weighing  perhaps  a  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds,  and  who  is  weak  for  a  want  of  exercise,  should 
never  begin  by  using  dumb-bells  weighing  over  four  pounds 
to  the  pair.  If  these  feel  too  light  for  him,  let  him  increase 
the  speed  of  his  motions. 

Many  young  men  have  been  induced  to  try  this  experi- 
ment of  domestic  gymnastics,  and  have,  to  use  their  own 
words,  "  become  new  men  "  in  a  very  few  months. 

Something,  surely,  need  be  done  to  arrest  the  decay  and 
premature  death  of  our  most  enterprising  young  mer- 
chants, who  are  by  nature  qualified  to  become  ornaments 


THE  COKTKACTOK.  105 

in  society  and  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  mercantile 
world. 

We  would  not  recommend  the  public  gymnasium  as  the 
only,  or  chief,  means  of  acquiring  physical  development ; 
because  it  is  expensive,  and  not  always  at  hand,  and  re- 
quires going  abroad,  and  set  times  for  its  attendance ;  but 
dumb-bells  can  be  used  in  one's  own  room  or  at  the  store, 
and  that,  too,  a  dozen  times  in  the  day,  in  leisure  moments; 
or  when  a  throbbing  brow  indicates  that  the  brain  is  being 
overtasked,  and  that  the  blood  should  be  withdrawn  to  the 
extremities  by  means  of  a  little  vigorous  bodily  exertion. 


THE    CONTRACTOR. 

THIS  business  lies  in  the  direction  of  manufactures  or 
mechanism,  and  needs  financiering  talent.  The  contractor 
should  have  mechanical  and  manufacturing  talent  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  the  financier.  He  also  requires  energy  of 
4  character,  to  push  the  business  to  which  he  is  devoted ; 
large  Self-Esteem,  to  give  dignity;  and  Combativeness 
and  Destructiveness,  to  give  courage  and  strength  of  char- 
acter, so  that  he  may  be  able  easily  to  control  and  govern 
men.  He  needs  sharp  perceptive  intellect,  and  a  tem- 
perament chiefly  Vital  and  Motive. 

6* 


106  INSUKANCE. 

THE    CONVEYANCER 

should  understand  the  forms  of  law  which  pertain  to  real 
estate.  He  should  have  a  calm  temperament;  never  be 
in  a  hurry,  but  should  be  cautions,  orderly,  and  deliberate ; 
should  be  a  draughtsman  and  first-rate  penman,  and  have 
that  method  and  tidiness  about  him  which  will  enable  him 
to  prepare  papers  with  care.  He  should  have  a  good 
memory  and  large  Comparison,  so  that  he  will  be  critical 
in  his  examination  of  titles  in  all  their  complicated  details. 
If  we  add  to  this  real-estate  dealing,  large  Constructive- 
ness  would  be  desirable,  for  he  who  buys  houses  should 
know  enough  about  mechanism  in  general,  and  carpentry 
and  masonry  in  particular,  to  understand  the  value  of  a 
house  according  to  the  standard  of  excellence  embodied 
in  its  construction. 


INSURANCE    BUSINESS 

requires  strong  common-sense,  kindness,  patience,  perse- 
verance, integrity,  Self-reliance,  friendship,  a  good  memory, 
and  large  Caution,  to  set  forth  the  danger  of  being  burned 
out,  or  dying  without  an  insurance  on  one's  life,  and  leav- 
ing the  family  unprovided  for.  A  strong  social  nature 
will  enable  the  life-insurance  agent  to  make  the  interests 
of  the  family,  the  disaster  of  leaving  the  wife  and  child 
without  support,  a  paramount  consideration. 

This  business  requires  a  strong  appreciation  of  human 
nature,  a  quick  perception  of  the  character  and  disposition 
of  men,  so  that  the  operator  will  be  able  to  frame  his  con- 


CANVASSING — LIVEEY.  107 

versation  and  arguments  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  offend, 
and  at  the  same  time  carry  the  point. 

THE  CANVASSER,  COMMERCIAL  TRAVELER, 

and  Collector  require  very  much  the  same  talents  as  the 
insurance  agent  He  who  can  succeed  in  one  can  suc- 
ceed in  the  other.  Still,  the  collector  needs  a  little  more 
dignity  and  positiveness,  which,  though  clothed  with  kind- 
ness, give  the  impression  that  there  is  imperativeness  in 
the  matter,  and  that  it  must  be  promptly  attended  to. 

EXPRESS    AND    TRANSPORTATION 

require  in  the  persons  engaged,  ardent  temperaments, 
force  of  character,  great  industry,  determination,  and  deci- 
sion, with  large  shoulders  and  lungs,  prominent  features, 
bony  frames,  and  good  digestion,  with  that  kind  of  push 
and  enterprise  that  does  not  quit  until  the  work  is  done. 

LIVERY    BUSINESS. 

To  fill  this  position  well,  a  man  needs  first-rate  health, 
an  ardent,  energetic  temperament,  and  a  disposition  to  be 
active,  enterprising,  and  thorough.  He  should  understand 
men  at  a  glance,  and  be  able  to  read  grand  larceny  in  a 
stranger's,  face  at  sight,  if  the  fact  and  motive  exist  for 
cuch  a  crime.  It  will  not  do  for  him  to  require  reference 
every  time  a  stranger  asks  for  a  horse  and  carriage.  The 
man's  face  and  bearing  must  tell  the  story.  But  one  of 
the  principal  elements  of  success  in  the  livery-stable 
keeper  is  to  understand  horses,  so  that  he  can  buy  stock 


108  INJURIOUS  PUB-SUITS. 

wisely,  and  feel  a  disposition  to  take  care  of  it  properly. 
Where  this  love  of  horses  is  very  strong,  every  trait  of 
character  belonging  to  all  of  the  twenty  or  forty  horses 
which  may  be  owned  will  be  known  to  the  proprietor.  In 
fact,  he  will  know  the  sound  of  every  wagon,  and  the 
footstep  of  every  horse,  when  at  a  distance  they  are 
approaching,  even  in  the  night.  A  horse  lover  only  should 
keep  the  livery  stable,  for  he  will  be  tender  and  careful  of 
his  pets,  and,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  there  will  be  no 
need  for  a  "  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Ani- 
mals." 

USELESS    AND    INJURIOUS    PURSUITS. 

Every  man  should  do  something  to  advance  the  com- 
mon wealth  and  happiness  of  the  human  race.  He  should 
not  engage  in  anything  which  has  a  direct  tendency  to 
debase  the  morals,  impair  the  health,  or  lower  the  race  in 
the  scale  of  being. 

ALCOHOLIC   LIQUORS. 

Among  the  most  detrimental  pursuits  is  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  alcoholic  drinks.  If  that  traffic  could 
cease,  there  would  perhaps  be  much  unhappiness  for  a 
while  among  those  accustomed  to  use  stimulants ;  but  in 
five  years'  time,  as  a  blessed  consequence  of  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  drinks,  mankind,  as  a  whole,  would  be 
augmented  in  power,  and  the  means  of  solid  happiness 
increased  at  least  twenty  per  cent.  It  is  the  writer's 
pleasure  to  remember  that  he  has  never,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly to  his  knowledge,  gained  a  penny  by  the  traffic  in 


LIQUOR — TOBACCO.  109 

alcoholic  liquors,  and  is  not  aware  that  anyofhis  ancestors 
have  ever  in  any  way  been  engaged  in  the  business. 

TOBACCO. 

The  manufacture  and  sale  of  tobacco  is  an  unmitigated 
curse  to  the  world.  We  always  advise  young  men  to  steer 
clear  not  only  from  the  use  of  these  articles,  but  to  avoid 
engaging  in  their  manufacture  and  sale.  From  the  day 
Columbus  discovered  America  to  the  present  hour,  tobacco 
has  been  an  unqualified  bane  to  mankind,  sapping  the 
foundation  of  constitutional  health  and  vigor,  lessening 
the  power  of  body  and  mind,  rendering  those  who  use  it — 
except  such  as  are  of  a  plethoric  habit  —  twenty-five 
pounds  lighter,  and  two  or  three  inches  shorter,  than  they 
would  otherwise  be;  and,  as  we  firmly  believe,  depressing 
mental  and  physical  power  twenty-five  per  cent.,  and 
shortening  life  in  an  equal  degree.  No  man  can  afford  to 
use  tobacco ;  and,  as  we  conceive,  no  man  with  the  right 
information  and  proper  judgment  in  the  matter  can  afford 
to  make  money  by  ministering  to  so  bad  a  habit.  "  Save 
me  from  blood-guiltiness,"  is  a  prayer  that  could  be  wisely 
uttered  in  reference  to  these  pursuits.  Although  we 
know  many  amiable  and  some  excellent  men  who  are 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  tobacco,  as  we 
know  many  excellent  men  who  are  using  the  article,  yet, 
from  a  physiological  point  of  view,  we  see  the  evil  neces- 
sarily growing  out  of  the  traffic  in  and  use  of  these  arti- 
cles. We  therefore  advise  all  young  men  who  have  yet 
to  select  their  occupation,  to  avoid  these,  and  those  who 
are  in  them,  to  wash  their  hands  of  them  at  once. 


110  TEACHING. 


(eruptions  (or  mown. 


ONE  of  the  great  evils  of  the  present  time  is  that  women 
do  not  have  laudable,  useful,  remunerative,  and  pleasant 
occupations.  It  is  all  very  well  for  people  to  assert  and 
reiterate  that  woman's  proper  sphere  is  in  the  domestic 
circle ;  but  some,  from  choice  or  incidental  influences  over 
which  they  have  no  control,  do  not  find  themselves  in  a 
domestic  circle  of  their  own.  Thousands  of  girls  find  it 
necessary  to  support  themselves,  or  help  a  widowed  mother 
to  maintain  the  family.  They  are  quite  as  competent,  men- 
tally, to  learn  any  trade,  as  a  man  is.  There  may  be  some 
kinds  of  business  in  which  woman's  susceptible  nature 
does  not  permit  her  to  compete  with  men  successfully,  even 
in  such  business  as  she  is  strong  enough  to  perform. 

Woman  is  patient,  as  the  knitting,  embroidery,  and 
other  needle-work  which  she  does,  attests ;  and  that  patient 
application  to  sedentary  occupations  at  once  compromises 
her  health  and  robs  her  of  that  courage  and  resolution 
which  would  be  preserved  and  promoted  by  a  more  execu- 
tive and  active  vocation. 


TEACHING. 

Speaking  generally,  we  regard  teaching  as  the  best  oc- 
cupation for  woman,  because  it  demands  good  culture,  and 


MILLINERY.  Ill 

that  is  desirable  and  useful  after  teaching  shall  be  aban- 
doned. It  gives  a  woman — in  the  present  condition  of 
public  sentiment — a  higher  rank  than  any  other  avocation 
which  she  can  follow.  More  women  are  invited  to  desir- 
able positions  in  marriage,  from  the  school-room,  than  from 
any  other  department  of  industry ; — partly  because,  per- 
haps, those  who  have  brain  enough  to  succeed  in  teach- 
ing, and  body  enough  to  give  support  to  that  brain,  are 
superior  in  point  of  fact.  It  is  an  intellectual  profession, 
and  men  of  high  business  success  without  such  education 
as  they  ought  to  have  had,  learn  to  respect  the  teacher 
more  highly  than  one  who  has  a  finer  training  in  the  arts 
and  elegancies  of  social  etiquette.  Teachers  soon  acquire 
a  certain  straightforward  earnestness  which  attracts  the 
attention  of  earnest  men.  Many  a  minister  or  successful 
business  man  will -pass  by  a  dozen  elegant  and  carefully- 
cultured  belles,  and  take  one  of  the  heroine  teachers,  and 
he  shows  his  wisdom  in  so  doing.  Moreover,  such  a 
woman  would  not  accept  one  of  the  weak-headed,  ineffi- 
cient men.  Schooled  in  the  realm  of  good  sense,  and 
strengthened  in  judgment  by  the  sharp  attritions  of  her 
professional  position,  she  learns  to  despise  sham  and  pre- 
tense, and  to  detect  and  shun  the  debased  and  the  hypo- 
critical. Hence,  she  generally  marries  well,  or  not  at  all. 

MILLINERY 

is  generally  the  next  most  desirable  vocation,  or  the  one 
which  women  most  naturally  tend  to  adopt.  This  is  well. 
We  know  several  who  commenced  without  a  dollar,  except 


112  DRESS-MAKING. 

that  which  they  earned,  and  placed  themselves  and  their 
families  in  independent  circumstances.  This  requires  in- 
genuity, originating  in  large  perceptives,  large  Construct- 
iveness  and  Ideality,  and  large  Approbativeness.  If  a  per- 
son has  a  good  social  development,  all  the  better.  She 
will  thereby  be  rendered  popular.  She  needs  Cautiousness 
and  Acquisitiveness,  to  give  her  prudence  and  economy ; 
and  Firmness,  Combativeness,  and  Continuity,  to  give  her 
stability,  energy,  and  patient  application ;  and  artistic  taste, 
to  select  suitable  articles,  and  to  know  how  to  combine 
colors  and  adapt  them  to  form  of  face  and  complexion. 


DRESS-MAKING. 

It  would  be  well  for  every  young  woman  to  learn  dress- 
making, because  it  would  enable  her,  while  single,  to  earn 
an  honorable  living,  and  could  be  rendered  exceedingly 
useful  when  settled  in  life,  not  only  in  aiding  herself  in 
the  matter  of  dress-making,  but  doing  such  work  for  a 
family,  especially  daughters.  Such  a  woman  could  hire  a 
dress-maker  to  cut  and  fit  while  she  and  her  daughters 
could  do  the  most  of  the  work,  and  save  many  a  dollar 
which  perhaps  she  could  ill  afford  to  pay  out  to  have  the 
work  done  elsewhere. 

The  dress-maker  needs  less  Ideality  than  the  milliner, 
but  Form,  Size,  Continuity,  and  Constructiveness  should 
be  amply  developed.  It  is  more  a  real,  solid  trade,  while 
millinery  is  rather  an  art.  A  fanciful,  airy  nature  can  do 
better  at  millinery  than  at  dress-making. 


TKADES  FOE  WOMEN.  113 

SHIRT-MAKING. 

This  is  a  first-rate  business,  and  should  be  mainly  in  the 
hands  of  woman.  Men  sometimes  conduct  the  business, 
and  employ  a  cutter,  while  women  do  all  the  work.  A 
dozen  young  women  who  know  how  to  run  a  sewing  ma- 
chine, and  perhaps  own  one,  could  form  a  co-partnership, 
and  get  a  good  business  woman  to  take  care  of  the  office, 
and  in  that  way  make  themselves  independent.  Some  few 
women  are  doing  this  successfully,  and  employing  girls  to 
do  the  work. 

TAILORING 

is  also  a  good  trade  for  women,  and  we  know  several  who 
learned  the  trade  in  the  days  of  girlhood,  followed  it  suc- 
cessfully until  marriage,  and  after  twenty  years  of  married 
life  returned  to  it  in  widowhood,  sustaining  themselves  and 
children  handsomely  and  laying  up  money.  To  know  how 
to  make  up  boys'  clothing,  and  how  to  keep  men's  clothes 
in  repair  by  the  "  stitch  in  time,"  is  of  no  small  consequence 
to  a  family  in  the  line  of  comfort,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
economy  or  necessity  of  it. 

PRINTING 

can  be  done  by  women  as  well  as  by  men.  Certainly  they 
can  do  the  type-setting  with  quite  as  much  taste  and  skill. 
We  think  at  least  one-half  of  all  the  type-setting  should  be 
done  by  women,  if  not  eight-tenths  of  it.  We  have  known 
among  them  some  very  active  and  successful  type-setters, 
and  we  see  no  reason  why  the  nimble  fingers  and  delicate 
touch  of  women  should  not  be  thus  employed. 


114  TRADES  FOB  WOMEN. 

WO  CD -EN  GRAYING 

is  practiced  by  woman  successfully.  The  work  can  be 
taken  home  from  the  office  and  done  at  one's  residence,  for 
it  has  all  to  be  done  by  the  eye  and  hand  of  the  engraver. 
Supervision,  while  the  work  is  in  progress,  is  not  required. 
The  proof  determines  what  has  been  done,  and  how. 
Woman  is  endowed  with  great  fondness  for  pictures, 
and  naturally  adopts  something  of  an  artistic  character. 
Whatever  is  ornamental  attracts  her,  and  calls  out  her 
taste  and  skill. 

Women  as  well  as  men  need  trades  they  can  set  up  and 
be  their  own  masters,  little  capital  being  required  to  make 
them  profitable.  Many  of  these  vocations  afford  the 
female  operatives  only  starvation  rates  of  wages.  We  may 
mention  a  number  of  occupations  at  which  women  are  em- 
ployed in  the  large  cities ;  but  some  of  these  can  not  be 
conducted  by  a  woman.  Artificial  flowers,  bead  work, 
button-making,  brush-making,  bonnet  frames,  burnishing, 
cord  and  twine,  gloves,  hoop  skirts,  paper  collars,  shoe 
fitting,  toys,  type-finishing,  tobacco  stripping,  upholstery, 
umbrella  and  parasol  work. 

WATCH-MAKING. 

The  delicate  touch  and  nice  appreciation  which  belong 
to  woman's  hand,  head,  and  eye  would  do  the  fine  work 
incident  to  the  jewelry  business.  We  have  known  one  or 
two  woman  watch-makers.  In  point  of  fact,  one-half  of 
all  the  watch  work  done  in  manufactories  is  done  by  girls, 
under  masculine  supervision.  But  that  is  "  factory  work," 


PURSUITS  FOE  WOMEN.  115 

and  done  at  small  wages.  Let  some  leading  woman  of 
ability  learn  the  business,  and  then  take  apprentices.  The 
trade  is  well  suited  to  her  sedentary  disposition. 

DENTISTRY. 

This  profession  or  trade  could  be  quite  as  well  con- 
ducted by  a  woman  as  by  a  man.  The  extracting  of  teeth 
is  now  done  under  the  influence  of  anesthetics,  and  is  not 
so  much  performed  by  each  dentist  as  formerly.  The  fill- 
ing of  teeth,  and  making  sets  of  teeth,  could  be  just  as 
well  done  by  women.  We  have  known  several  women 
who  have  had  a  strong  desire  for  that  occupation,  and 
only  needed  encouragement  and  a  chance  to  engage  in  it. 

Public  sentiment  allots  woman  the  post  of  marriage 
and  domestic  life,  and  partly  on  this  account,  and  partly 
from  the  expectation  of  a  settlement  and  a  competent  sup- 
port, woman  seldom  resolves  to  adopt  a  trade  or  profes- 
sion, until  time  admonishes  her  that  her  future  independ- 
ence is  to  depend  on  her  own  exertions.  Her  brother,  no 
more  capable  than  she,  knowing  that  he  has  to  fight  life's 
battle  for  himself,  gives  undivided  attention  and  persever- 
ing energy  to  the  pursuit  of  his  choice,  learns  it  thoroughly 
as  a  life-pursuit,  whether  he  is  to  be  single  or  married, 
and  thus  secures  success.  The  same  motives  on  her  part 
would  secure  similar  effort  and  success. 

MERCHANDIZING. 

If  there  is  any  doubt  that  women  can  sell  goods  as  well 
as  men,  let  us  remember  the  grace  and  skill  with  which 


116  WOMEN  BOOK-KEEPERS. 

they  accomplish  this  matter  at  fairs.  The  depleted  wallets 
of  many  a  man  will  bear  witness  that  woman's  power  of 
description,  and  her  persuasive  eloquence,  are  equal  to  the 
task  of  selling  goods  at  high  figures  and  in  ample  quanti- 
ties. Besides,  most  of  the  goods. that  are  sold  in  retail 
and  fancy  stores  are  understood  quite  as  well  by  women 
as  by  men,  for  they  use  most  of  these  articles.  Why 
should  a  man  stand  and  talk  about  lace  handkerchiefs, 
dress  goods,  ribbons,  and  all  the  various  elegant  trinkets 
which  go  to  make  up  a  stock  of  fancy  goods  and,  largely, 
woman's  wardrobe  ?  Woman  should  do  the  selling,  and 
men  should  go  about  some  more  manly  business. 

BOOK-KEEPING- 

should  be  learned  by  those  who  are  quick  in  figures  and 
have  a  taste  for  writing.  We  have  known  marked  speci- 
mens of  feminine  skill  and  success  in  this  field  of  industry. 
We  have  often  thought,  and  said,  that  no  man  should  be  a 
book-keeper  who  has  not  some  bodily  defect, — lameness, 
or  some  physical  incompetency  to  struggle  with  the  more 
laborious  occupations. 

GROCERY    BUSINESS. 

Who  knows  more  about  groceries  than  women  ?  Who 
use  them?  Who  purchase  them?  If  woman  stood  be- 
hind the  counter  instead  of  in  front  of  it,  would  she  know 
less  of  the  qualities  and  uses  of  that  which  belongs  to  the 
grocery,  such  as _  tea,  coffee,  butter,  sugar,  and  the  like  ? 


FEMALE  PHYSICIANS.  117 

We  know  some  widows  who  have  succeeded  to  their  hus- 
band's business  in  this  line,  and  have  done  admirably. 
There  should  be  a  man  or  two  about  the  store  to  do  the 
heavy  lifting  and  working ;  but  does  not  the  servant  girl 
roll  out  the  ash  barrel  from  nearly  every  house  in  the  city  ? 
Does  not  she  carry  the  coal  sometimes  up  two  or  three 
flights  of  stairs  ?  and  could  not  she  handle  a  tub  of  butter 

o 

or  a  barrel  of  apples  in  a  grocery  store  for  better  pay  ? 
Woman  does  in  the  housekeeping  line  a  deal  of  drudgery, 
with  meager  compensation  and  no  thanks.  It  is  quite  as 
onerous  as  that  which  might  be  called  the  drudgery  of  the 
grocery  business,  and  much  of  the  work  in  this  line  is 
neither  drudgery  nor  hard  labor. 

MEDICINE. 

The  profession  of  medicine  is  coming  to  be  a  woman's 
occupation.  Men  may  turn  the  cold  shoulder,  and  well- 
housed  women  may  lift  their  eyebrows  in  scorn,  but  wo- 
men are  bound  to  do  more  than  half  the  medical  practice 
in  this  country  in  less  than  fifty  years.  She  is  quite  as 
well  adapted  to  learn  the  sciences  of  chemistry,  physi- 
ology, pathology,  and  materia  medica  as  men  are;  and 
many  a  nurse  is  as  good  as  a  doctor.  Woman  has  an  apt- 
itude for  this  pursuit,  and  we  rejoice  to  know  some 
whose  medical  education  is  beyond  criticism,  and  whose 
services  are  so  sought  and  prized,  as  to  give  an  income  of 
more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year ;  others,  ten 
thousand  ;  others,  less ;  but  incomes  ample  for  the  support 
of  a  large  family. 


118          SCIENCE  AND  ABT  OF  COOKEET. 

COOKING. 

There  should  be  schools  for  instruction  in  cooking ;  not 
schools  for  the  preparation  of  hotel  fare,  and  for  great 
banquets,  but  schools  in  which  the  preparation  of  a  plain 
family  dinner  should  be  taught.  Every  woman  should 
know  how  to  cook  who  assumes  to  be  at  the  head  of  a 
family.  We  do  not  assert  that  she  should  follow  it,  that 
she  should  have  no  assistance ;  that  she  should  not  have  a 
cook  capable  of  and  generally  doing  the  whole  of  it.  But 
if  the  cook  should  be  sick,  or  vacate  her  situation,  it  cer- 
tainly would  be  more  disgraceful  for  a  woman  to  be  igno- 
rant, and  obliged  to  exhibit  her  ignorance  in  a  pinch,  than 
for  her  to  know  how  to  do  the  work  which  she  may  not  be 
expected  or  required  constantly  to  follow. 

If  some  of  the  time  and  study  now  largely  wasted  on 
music,  which  will  be  abandoned  in  twelve  months  after 
marriage,  were  bestowed  on  learning  to  make  the  table  a 
real  blessing,  at  once  attractive  and  a  ministrant  of  tem- 
perance and  health,  many  husbands  would  eat  fewer  sup- 
pers at  club-rooms  and  fashionable  restaurants,  greatly  to 
the  benefit  of  their  pockets,  their  morals,  and  the  happi- 
ness both  of  wives  and  husbands.  Let  wives  continue  to 
leave  cooking  largely  or  solely  to  ignorant  and  selfish  ser- 
vants, perhaps  not  knowing  themselves  how  to  correct 
their  errors,  and  execrable  cookery,  domestic  unhappiness, 
and  the  tendency  to  outside  dissipation  in  various  forms 
will  continue  to  flourish  rankly  and  ruinously. 

If  it  were  understood  that  the  mistress  knew  how  to  do 
cooking,  she  would  not  be  half  so  likely  to  be  abandoned  by 
an  angry  cook,  out  of  spite,  or  have  a  saucy  demand  made 


LAUNDRY  WOEK.  119 

for  an  increase  of  wages,  as  if  she  were  ignorant  and  liable 
to  be  left  at  any  time,  but  especially  when  company  for  a 
week  is  expected. 

The  ignorance  of  mistresses  in  respect  to  cooking  is  a 
wand  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  hired  queen  of  the 
kitchen.  Learn  how  to  do  it  well,  and  if  misfortune  com- 
pel you  to  practice  it  for  life,  you  can  perform  it  with  pleas- 
ure and  success ;  if  you  chance  to  be  able,  hire  the  chief 
part  of  the  cooking  and  housekeeping  done  if  you  please, 
and  thus  knowing  how,  you  can  instruct  the  green,  and  com- 
mand the  respect  and  obedience  of  those  who  know  how. 

LAUNDRY,  WORK. 

Not  one  woman  in  twenty,  who  does  her  own  laundry 
work,  knows  how  to  do  up  linen  properly.  A  shirt  fronj 
a  store  will  have  a  shine  and  finish  which  is  never  repro- 
duced unless  it  be  sent  back  to  a  laundry.  Women  should 
understand  that  secret.  Girls  do  the  work  in  these  laun- 
dries, but  some  selfish  man  understands  the  secret  and 
prepares  the  material,  and  the  girls  who  do  the  work  do 
not  know  the  ingredients  which  give  it  the  fine  finish,  but 
they  do  the  muscular  work  and  produce  the  desired  result. 
Why  not  do  the  brain  work  and  pocket  the  profit  ? 

If  women  understood  different  kinds  of  business,  so 
that  they  could  earn  an  independent  living,  fewer  would 
throw  themselves  away  on  worthless  men,  or  pine  in 
poverty  as  at  present.  There  is  a  certain  false  senti- 
ment in  the  community,  that  women  must  be  ladies  in  the 
sense  of  elegant  idleness  and  uselessness,  to  be  petted  and 


120  A  GOOD  EXAMPLE. 

fostered  and  flattered.  As  most  women  are  taught  by 
public  custom  to  expect  marriage  as  a  means  of  support, 
there  is  a  tendency  to  neglect  the  acquisition  of  any  per- 
manent and  substantial  business. 

Needlewomen,  from  the  close  attention  required,  and 
from  a  want  of  exercise,  early  break  down  in  health.  We 
know  one  who  was  an  excellent  shirt-maker,  and  though 
her  constitution  was  excellent,  it  began  to  fail.  She  had 
learned  the  art  of  doing  up  the  work  as  it  is  done  in  the 
regular  laundries,  and  her  customers  ventured  to  ask  her 
to  do  up  their  shirts,  which  she  had  made  for  them.  They 
would  get  them  washed,  if  she  would  starch  and  iron 
them.  As  they  were  not  always  well  washed,  she  finally 
proposed  to  do  the  entire  work.  In  a  short  time  she  as- 
certained that  she  could  earn  five  dollars  as  quickly  in 
washing  and  ironing  shirts  as  she  could  earn  one  dollar  in 
making  them,  and  was  regaining  her  former  health  and 
cheerfulness,  and  she  had  the  good  sense  to  abandon  the 
needle  and  take  up  the  washboard  and  smoothing  irons. 
She  was  thus  able  not  only  to  support  an  invalid  husband, 
but  lay  up  money  with  which  to  buy  real  estate.  She  ac- 
cepted only  shirts,  and  these  from  first-class  customers, 
which  commanded  a  good  price,  and  she  had  enough  to  do 
to  employ  a  stout  assistant,  and  she  soon  placed  herself  in 
independent  circumstances.  So  much  for  not  being  too 
proud  to  do  useful  and  necessary  work. 


THE  SALARY  QUESTION.  121 


YOUNG  men  who  are  clerks,  or  are  otherwise  employed 
at  wages  or  on  a  salary,  make  a  signal  mistake  in  press- 
ing the  question  of  wages  often  and  earnestly.  A  clerk, 
for  example,  who  wishes  to  become  a  merchant,  desiring 
to  rise  to  a  prominent  and  lucrative  position,  should,  in 
the  first  place,  seek  the  right  situation,  where  men  are 
honorable  and  conduct  business  on  business  principles — a 
firm  that  has  good  repute  and  excellent  credit ;  in  short, 
the  firm  should  be  what  the  young  man  himself  is  desirous 
to  become  in  character,  capacity,  credit,  and  reputation. 
What  he  needs,  therefore,  after  the  temperate  and  proper 
supply  of  his  bodily  wants,  is  instruction  and  advance- 
ment in  the  science  and  real  merits  of  the  Business.  It  is 

• 

not  salary,  simply,  that  he  should  work  for.  The  greater 
part  of  the  compensation  is  the  instruction  received.  Let 
this  be  illustrated  by  an  apprentice  to  a  useful  trade.  He 
receives  sometimes  sufficient  for  his  food  and  raiment. 
Sometimes  he  has  a  hundred  dollars  in  addition  when  he  is 
of  age.  Sometimes  the  parents  furnish  the  clothing,  and 
the  master  the  board.  Sometimes,  as  in  England,  parents 
are  obliged  to  pay  a  sum  of  money  for  the  privilege  of  his 
learning  a  trade,  and  support  their  son  besides,  during  his 
apprenticeship.  The  apprentice,  then,  is  working  solely 
for  the  trade,  the  knowledge,  the  skill,  the  information, 

6 


122  Low  WAGES  AT  FIKST. 

the  mode  of  doing  business.  This  is,  to  him,  ample  com- 
pensation for  his  time  and  labor.  Apply  this  principle  to 
the  commercial  clerk,  and  the  question  of  salary  takes  a 
very  subordinate  position.  The  clerk  who  is  always  push- 
ing for  more  pay,  and  earning  as  little  of  that  which  he 
gets  as  may  be ;  who  is  tardy  in  the  morning,  and  in  a 
hurry  to  get  off  at  night ;  who  begins  to  black  his  boots 
and  brush  and  comb  half  an  hour  before  quitting  time; 
and  who  requires  half  an  hour  in  the  morning  to  make 
himself  presentable  for  the  business  of  the  day,  will  be 
dropped  out  of  the  corps  of  helpers  whenever  business 
becomes  slack,  or  any  plausible  excuse  exists  for  ridding 
the  concern  of  the  leeches. 

Clerks  should  also  avoid  engaging  in  amusement  and 
nonsense  at  every  opportunity  during  business  hours; 
should  not  linger  long  at  their  lunch,  or  seek  occasion  to 
gaze  into  the  street,  and  thus  kill  time.  Such  persons 
appear  to  work  only  for  their  pay,  and  they  earn  it  very 
poorly. 

The  true  young  man  who  is  heartily  in  earnest  to  learn 
his  business  and  fill  his  situation  to  the  full,  will  maintain 
a  decorous  sobriety,  be  promptly  on  the  spot  in  the  morn- 
ing, attend  to  his  business  sagaciously,  and  act  as  if  he 
were  there  expressly  to  forward  the  business,  rather  than 
to  acquire  a  certain  sum  of  money  at  the  end  of  the  month 
or  week. 

LOW   WAGES    AT   FIRST. 

It  were  better  for  a  young  man  to  take  five  dollars  a 
week  at  the  start,  though  he  might  get  six,  and  then  by 
industry,  attention,  and  integrity  impress  every  one  with 


HIGH  WAGES  A  DAMAGE.  123 

the  idea  that  he  earns  much  more  than  he  gets.  He  may 
accept  such  advances  in  pay  as  might  be  cheerfully  offered ; 
but  if  he  earn  more  than  he  obtains,  he  will  acquire  the 
reputation  of  being  cheap  and  valuable  help,  and  of  giving 
more  than  he  receives.  He  should  seek  at  every  opportu- 
nity to  increase  his  knowledge  of  the  business,  so  that  he 
may  be  all  the  more  useful.  He  may  thus  make  himself  so 
necessary  to  the  establishment  that  it  really  can  not  well 
get  along  without  him.  Such  a  person's  situation  is  per- 
manent. We  have  this  moment  in  mind  a  man  who  served 
a  single  firm  thirty-six  years,  with  a  constantly  increasing 
compensation  to  the  last. 

TOO    MUCH    WAGES    A    DAMAGE. 

On  the  contrary,  if  one  gets  at  the  start  all  he  can  earn, 
and  a  little  more,  and  presses  for  a  more  rapid  increase  of 
pay  than  his  qualifications  warrant,  he  comes  to  be  re- 
garded with  disfavor,  and  his  place  is  very  insecure.  Sup- 
pose a  man  does  have  a  dollar  or  two  a  week  less  than  he 
earns ;  suppose  he  is  one  year  behind  his  merit  in  respect 
to  the  advance  of  salary,  it  is  but  a  small  sum  at  most, 
and  that  is  nothing  compared  with  the  permanent  security 
of  his  position.  Besides,  one  who  attends  to  his  duties  in 
season  and  out  of  season ;  one  who  watches  every  chance 
to  forward  business  and  benefit  the  house;  one  who  is 
found  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  even  when 
not  particularly  under  the  eye  and  criticism  of  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  establishment,  will  grow  up  into  a  partner- 
ship almost  as  certain  as  age  relaxes  the  energy  and  dims 
the  eye  of  those  who  are  his  seniors  in  the  business  and 


124  HONESTY  THE  TKUE  POLICY. 

have  facilities  for  promoting  his  prosperity.  Many  a 
sound,  far-looking  merchant  is  watching  to  find  among 
his  twenty  or  forty  clerks  some  worthy  young  man  who 
shall  be  invited  to  a  partnership, — not  in  the  firm,  merely, — 
but  his  way  facilitated  to  become  more  than  a  partner — a 
member  of  his  own  family,  to  inherit,  with  a  favorite 
daughter,  the  fortune  which  years  of  care  and  sagacity 
shall  have  gathered. 

The  spruce  young  spark  who  thinks  chiefly  of  his  mus- 
tache and  boots  and  shiny  hat,  of  getting  along  nicely  and 
easily  during  the  day,  and  talking  about  the  theater,  the 
opera,  or  a  fast  horse,  ridiculing  the  faithful  young  fellow 
who  came  to  learn  the  business  and  make  a  man  of  him- 
self, because  he  will  not  join  in  wasting  his  time  in  dissi- 
pation, will  see  the  day,  if  his  useless  life  is  not  earlier 
blasted  by  vicious  indulgences,  when  he  will  be  glad  to 
accept  a  situation  from  his  fellow-clerk  whom  he  now  ridi- 
cules and  affects  to  despise,  when  he  shall  stand  in  the  firm 
dispensing  benefits  and  acquiring  fortune. 

HONESTY   THE    TKUE    POLICY. 

Let  us  say,  then,  to  young  men,  Be  faithful,  work  hard, 
take  such  pay  as  may  be  tendered  thankfully,  and  fasten 
yourself  to  the  interests  of  the  business,  so  that  it  can  not 
afford  to  part  with  yon.  Be  true  to  those  who  employ 
you,  for  that  is  the  way  to  be  true  to  yourself.  Postpone 
present  acquisition  with  a  view  to  larger  and  more  perma- 
nent success  afterward.  It  is  as  true  in  secular  as  in 
spiritual  things,  that  "  whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall 
lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sakey  shall  find 


SITUATIONS,  How  OBTAINED.  125 

it."  In  other  words,  he  who  seeks  to  serve  himself  when 
he  professes  to  be  serving  another,  will  end  in  failure ; 
while  he  who  forgets  his  personal  interests  while  serving 
the  interests  of  those  who  employ  him,  will  find  in  this 
very  course  his  own  ultimate  triumph. 


oui  to  ftfmn  a  Situation. 


RESOLVE  at  the  start  to  win  success  by  faithful  and 
earnest  work ;  to  be  true  to  the  vocation  chosen,  and  by 
your  own  virtue  and  fidelity  therein  to  raise  yourself  and 
your  business  to  renown.  Look  not  upon  your  vocation 
as  a  sponge  to  be  squeezed,  or  as  a  selfish  man  may  re- 
gard  a  livery  horse  he  hires  for  a  day, — but  as  a  part  of 
yourself,  to  be  imbued  with  your  own  virtue,  wisdom,  skill, 
and  power. 

Visit,  with  some  wise  and  venerable  man,  various  kinds 
of  business,  that  you  may  see  them  in  their  rougher  and 
less  inviting  forms,  so  that  the  finished  goods  in  the  mar- 
ket may  not  mislead  you  as  to  the  realities  of  the  trade. 
He  who  sees  the  sparkling  jewelry,  the  polished  cutlery, 
the  elegant  silver  ware,  or  the  handsomely  printed  book 
would  be  surprised  to  know  that  in  the  shops  wherein  these 
shining  things  are  produced,  there  is  grease  and  grime, 
dust  and  smoke,  aching  brains  and  weary  backs.  People 


126  OBTAINING  A  SITUATION. 

expect  to  see  the  blacksmith  with  smutty  face  and  hard, 
begrimed  hands,  but  would  hardly  credit  the  fact  that  the 
making  of  gold  watch-cases  is  among  the  dirtiest  of  trades. 

After  a  thorough  investigation  of  different  pursuits,  and 
a  careful  and  honest  estimate  of  your  own  qualities,  and 
what  you  really  ought  to  follow, — then  start,  fully  resolved 
to  find  an  opening,  or  to  make  one,  in  the  chosen  pursuit. 
Then  having  clearly  in  view  the  trade  or  vocation  to  be 
adopted,  every  good  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  town 
or  county  should  be  visited  in  turn  until  a  vacancy  can  be 
found. 

Do  not  apply  to  porters  or  boys,  questioning  them  about 
a  situation.  They  will  not  be  likely  to  know  of  a  vacancy, 
or  if  they  do,  they  will  desire  to  have  it  filled  by  one  of 
their  own  friends.  Find  out  who  the  head  man  is  and  go 
directly  to  him,  and  when  he  is  at  leisure,  looking  him 
squarely  and  honestly  in  the  eye,  tell  him  you  have  re- 
solved to  learn  his  business  and  grow  up  in  it.  Your 
choice  of  his  pursuit  will  at  once  awaken  in  him  a  brotherly 
feeling,  and  he  will  be  instinctively  drawn  toward  you, 
especially  if  your  appearance  impresses  him  favorably. 
He  may  have  several  persons  in  his  employ  who  are  practi- 
cally on  trial,  some  of  whom  take  no  interest  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  are  really  looking  for  something  different,  staying 
where  they  are  only  for  the  pay.  Knowing  these  facts, 
the  proprietor  readily  accepts  the  proposal  of  the  appli- 
cant, feeling  assured  that  he  will  more  than  fill  the  place 
of  the  disaffected,  who  will  accordingly  be  notified  to  look 
for  something  else  in  the  way  of  business  more  in  harmony 
with  their  taste  and  choice 


BEGIN  AT  THE  BOTTOM.  127 

Merely  asking  for  a  situation  seldom  secures  one  that  is 
worth  having.  There  are  too  many  who  go  out  looking 
for  something  to  do,  indifferent  as  to  what  it  may  be,  just 
to  earn  enough  for  present  support,  careless  and  dreamy  as 
to  the  future.  Thus  boys,  and  even  young  men,  get  situa- 
tions in  offices  to  run  of  errands  and  stay  about  the  place 
to  answer  any  calls  which  may  be  made ;  thus  they  be- 
come listless,  vacuitous,  lazy,  and  utterly  demoralized,  and 
they  come  to  man's  estate  without  a  trade  or  profession, 
and  become  aimless  sponges  upon  the  prosperity  of  the 
community.  They  are  "  men  about  town,"  always  in  want, 
open  to  temptation  by  the  vicious,  or  fall  a  prey  to  un- 
manly or  wicked  occupations.  Thus  they  become  vaga- 
bonds, political  shoulder-hitters,  pimps,  and  panderers  to 
every  kind  of  baseness  which  is  the  natural  result  of  tru- 
ancy from  school,  and  entire  ignorance  of  any  honorable 
method  of  earning  a  support. 

When  seeking  a  situation  do  not  propose  to  take  an 
advanced  post.  Ask  for  a  chance  to  work,  beginning  at 
the  bottom.  You  may  be  considered  qualified  for  some- 
thing better,  yet  be  placed  at  the  foot  to  test  your  temper 
and  fidelity — to  ascertain  if  you  will  be  "  faithful  over  a 
few  things  "  as  a  qualification  to  become  "  a  ruler  over 
many  things."  If  you  sweep,  make  fires,  dust,  do  anything 
and  everything  promptly  and  cheerfully,  you  will  be  ad- 
vanced so  fast  as  you  are  seen  to  have  fully  mastered 
your  allotted  position.  Grumbling  at  your  lot  and  asking 
to  be  put  forward  will  disgust  your  superiors,  who  are  per- 
haps planning  to  obtain  some  one  to  fill  your  low  place 
that  you  may  be  put  forward.  Men  like  to  manage  their 


128  PLACES  EASILY  KETAINED. 

own  business — dislike  to  have  boys  make  suggestions  as  to 
their  own  occupation  or  pay.  Plants  are  not  put  in  large 
pots  until,  by  healthy  growing,  they  seem  to  have  filled 
the  small  ones.  If  a  puny  plant  were  to  tease  the  gar- 
dener for  a  large  pot  or  open-air  planting,  he  would  wisely 
say,  "  Fill  the  place  you  occupy  first,  and  thus  show  your 
adaptation  to  a  larger  one ; "  or  in  disgust  he  would  jerk 
out  the  feeble  starveling  and  put  a  vigorous  successor  in 
its  place.  Many  a  boy  has  lost  his  situation  because 
he  whined  for  a  post  of  duty  beyond  his  present  capacity 
to  fill. 

He  who,  in  store  or  shop,  begins  at  the  bottom  and 
learns  how  to  do  everything,  and  is  competent  to  every 
duty,  has  his  position  and  ultimate  success  in  his  own  keep- 
ing; and  he  will  be  sought  after  by  many  if  it  is  known 
he  is  at  liberty  to  accept  of  a  new  engagement.  We  have 
seen  a  faithful  boy  take  a  selfish  man's  place  in  a  shop  or 
store,  having,  of  course,  increased  responsibilities,  a  more 
elevated  position,  and  better  pay  than  before.  The  selfish 
malcontent  was  quite  certain  the  proprietor  put  a  bqy  in 
his  place  to  save  expense,  when,  in  point  of  fact,  he,  hav- 
ing failed  to  fill  .the  place  of  a  man,  it  was  given  to  a  boy 
who  had  more  than  filled  a  boy's  place. 

When  one  has  a  situation,  it  is  very  easy  to  keep  it  if  he 
is  really  in  earnest  to  fulfill  its  duties,  and  the  faithful 
worker  will  always  be  retained  in  dull  times ;  while  those 
who  by  laziness  and  slackness  seek  to  get  along  easily,  will 
be  induced  to  leave.  We  would  have  all  aim  high,  but 
the  true  way  to  rise  is  to  build  strongly  the  foundation 
of  future  success  by  attention,  industry,  and  faithfulness, 


IDLERS  NEVER  WANTED.  129 

and  if  the  person  have  talent,  nothing  can  long  keep  him 
down.  It  is  really  for  the  interest  of  employers  to  have 
their  assistants  grow  in  skill,  capacity,  influence,  and  power. 
It  is  better  to  employ  ten  first-class  men  than  fifteen  me- 
dium men  at  the  same  aggregate  amount  of  compensa- 
tion. 

When  a  man  is  out  of  a  position  it  seems  that  nobody 
wants  him.  Those  who  are  unemployed  are  apt  to  be 
regarded  as  stray  waifs  not  wanted  by  anybody.  More- 
over, if  a  man  not  overstocked  with  hope  and  courage  is 
unemployed,  he  soon  comes  to  feel  dejected  and  irresolute, 
especially  if  he  applies  for  employment  frequently  and  is 
refused.  Therefore  it  is  well  to  take  some  temporary 
business  in  hand  as  a  stepping-stone  to  that  which  is 
wanted.  A  man  of  good  mind  and  pleasant  address  once 
asked  us  to  aid  him  in  obtaining  a  situation.  We  handed 
him  a  monthly  journal  and  told  him  to  solicit  advertise- 
ments for  it  at  so  much  a  line,  on  a  certain  commission, 
and  this  would  make  for  him  a  good  excuse  to  enter  stores 
and  have  a  word  with  the  head  man.  If  he  could  secure 
an  advertisement,  all  very  well ;  if  not,  he  could  propose 
himself  as  an  assistant.  He  started  out,  and  had  not  been 
gone  three  hours  before  he  found  a  good  position,  and 
returned  his  agency  with  many  thanks. 

One  who  seeks  a  situation  should  not  know  too  much, 
nor  profess  much.  If  he  be  young,  he  should  gay,  "  I  can 
work,  and  am  willing .  to  do  whatever  may  be.  required." 
One  who  is  willing  to  begin  at  the  bottom,  and  does  not 
stipulate  as  to  price,  but  leaves  that  entirely  to  the  em- 
ployer, makes  a  good  impression,  and  awakens  in  his  be- 

6* 


130  "  GENTLEMEN  "  NOT  WAITED. 

half  a  kindly,  generous  spirit,  and  his  interests  will  not  be 
forgotten. 

A  well-educated  son  of  a  United  States  senator  tried  for 
weeks  to  find  a  situation  in  Chicago,  and  failed.  He  told 
his  name  and  connections;  they  inquired  about  his  knowl- 
edge of  business,  and  learning  that  it  was  meager,  and  as 
they  did  not  want  another  gentleman  in  the  concern,  he 
was  politely  dismissed.  They  did  not  feel  willing  to  put 
a  handsome,  well-grown,  well-educated  son  of  a  senator  to 
rough  work  about  the  store,  and  readily  ascertained  that 
they  had  no  vacancy.  He  found,  to  his  surprise,  that  being 
the  son  of  a  senator  was  no  aid  in  getting  a  situation  in 
business  unless  he  thoroughly  understood  it.  One  day, 
greatly  to  the  astonishment  and  chagrin  of  his  sister,  he 
came  from  his  room  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  Kentucky 
jean,  in  the  shape  of  jacket  and  overalls.  Explaining  his 
purpose,  he  sallied  forth  and  asked  for  work  about  the 
stores  he  visited,  keeping  his  family  relationship  to  himself. 
In  half  a  day  he  had  a  place  at  good  wages  for  a  working 
man,  and  in  three  months  he  was  assistant  bookkeeper. 
He  had  written  labels  for  parcels,  signed  receipts,  and  on 
occasion  made  out  a  bill,  and  it  was  soon  seen  that  the 
resolute  worker  had  a  brain  as  well  as  muscle,  and  he 
was  rapidly  promoted,  and  he  concealed  his  social  stand- 
ing until  he  had  won  a  good  position. 

We  happened  to  know  a  young  man  who  was  born  in 
Dublin  and  educated  in  its  university,  who  landed  in  New 
York  in  1830,  and  found,  after  vainly  seeking  a  nice  situa- 
tion, his  pocket  empty  and  his  wardrobe  poor.  He  applied 
to  the  agent  of  Colonel  Edwards,  the  great  tanner  at  Hun- 


CHEERFULNESS  FINDS  A  PLACE.          131 

ter,  N.  Y.,  for  laboring  work,  and  was  forwarded  with 
others  from  New  York  to  the  tannery  to  work  through 
the  winter  for  eight  dollars  a  month  and  his  board.  He 
was  set  to  wheeling  bark  from  the  shed  to  the  bark-milL 
As  the  farmers  and  others  brought  their  loads  of  bark  for 
sale,  the  bookkeeper  came  from  the  office  to  measure  each 
load.  Our  modest  Dublin  man,  hearing  the  dimensions  of 
the  loads  announced,  picked  up  a  piece  of  bright  bark  and 
cast  the  contents  of  each  load  upon  its  smooth  surface, 
saying  nothing.  The  bookkeeper  saw  what  he  was  doing, 
and  asked  him  if  he  understood  arithmetic,  and  desired  to 
see  the  result  of  his  work,  when,  behold,  it  was  done  iii 
algebra.  "  Where  did  you  learn  that  ? "  "In  the  univer- 
sity, sir,"  was  the  reply.  This  was  repeated  at  the  office, 
and  in  a  few  days  his  fine  penmanship  and  knowledge  of 
the  science  of  accounts  gave  him  a  warm  situation  as 
assistant  cashier  and  bookkeeper,  instead  of  running  a 
wheelbarrow  where  the  thermometer  was  at  or  below 
zero.  "  He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted." 

Do  not  go  out  seeking  a  situation  with  a  hopeless,  sad, 
helpless  look.  Nobody  wants  a  dead  weight,  a  cheerless 
parasite  to  drive  away  all  gladness  and  joy  from  the  estab- 
lishment. We  like  the  spirit  of  the  brave  lad  who  asked 
at  a  place  for  employment,  and  when  informed  that  his 
services  were  not  required,  replied  cheerily,  "Very  well, 
gentlemen,  if  you  do  not  want  me,  somebody  else  will." 
They  liked  his  hopeful  self-reliance,  called  him  back,  and 
made  a  place  for  him.  Where  many  persons  are  employed, 
there  is  generally  room  for  one  more,  especially  if  he  be  of 
the  right  sort. 


132  THE  ABTIST. 


rotetmral  potations 

si 


THE    ARTIST. 


WHAT  is  it  to  be  an  artist?  and  what  faculties  are 
required  to  secure  success  in  that  vocation  ?  We  believe 
that  all  pursuits  will  be  more  normally  prosecuted  by  men 
of  good,  sound,  bodily  constitutions  than  by  those  nervous, 
fidgety,  half-built  men  who  are  partial  in  their  develop- 
ment, and,  of  course,  must  be  partial  and  fragmentary  in 
their  efforts. 

MENTAL    REQUISITES. 

We  say,  then,  the  artist  should  have  a  poetic  tempera- 
ment— an  abundance  of  the  Mental  or  nervous,  well  sus- 
tained by  the  Vital,  with  a  dash  of  the  Motive,  which 
gives  frequently  dark  hair  and  eyes.  The  artist  should 
have  a  high,  long  head,  and  breadth  from  the  external 
angles  of  the  forehead  backward ;  in  other  words,  the" 
upper  part  of  the  side-head  should  be  full  and  well 
expanded.  The  Mental- Vital  temperament  serves  to  give 
emotion  in  the  direction  of  sentiment,  while  large  Ideality 
and  Constructiveness,  combined  with  large  Spirituality, 
tend  to  give  creative  fancy,  imagination,  power  of  con- 
struction, and  ability  to  work  out  the  image  which  the 
mind  has  created,  and  thus  produce  tangibly  wha.t  the 
inspiration  of  sentiment  has  created  in  the  mind. 


THE  AKTIST.  133 

The  true  artist  does  not  'begin  his  picture  or  his  statue 
as  one  does  the  brick  wall  of  a  house,  laying  it  out  by 
metes  and  bounds  and  erecting  it  with  line  and  plummet, 
according  to  fixed  mathematical  rules ;  but  in  the  dream 
of  the  artist  or  the  artisan  the  beautiful  dome,  with  all  its 
elegant  finish,  is  instantly  brought  into  being  and  spanned 
above  his  head.  The  statue  or  the  picture  comes  to  him 
like  a  dream,  and  the  secret  of  art-power  is  to  hold  those 
images  in  the  memory  until  the  faculties  of  Constructive- 
ness,  Form,  Size,  and  Order  have  wrought  out  and  fixed 
the  image  in  material  form. 

KNOWLEDGE    OP   CHARACTER. 

In  portraiture  and  sculpture  the  artist  must  possess  an 
instinctive  appreciation  of  character.  Landseer  loved 
dogs,  understood  their  character,  and  could  sympathize 
with  them,  and  thus  embody  their  character  in  their 
expression.  Rosa  Bonheur  studied  and  understood,  not 
the  forms  of  horses  and  cattle  only ;  she  knew  their  dispo- 
sitions, absorbed  their  consciousness  as  it  were,  knew  how 
they  felt,  and  learned  to  express  in  her  work  the  inner 
spirit  of  her  subject.  Hence,  everybody  who  knows  ani- 
mals well,  readily  appreciates  her  success.  The: man  who 
looks  upon  an  ox  as  so  much  beef,  or  upon  a  horse  as 
being  merely  bulky  and  strong,  would  neither  appreciate 
nor  purchase  one  of  her  matchless  pictures. 

The  same  law  holds  good  respecting  successful  art  in 
human  portraiture  or  sculpture.  He  who  has  a  good 
knowledge  of  Phrenology  and  Physiognomy  will  compose 
a  head  and  face  in  such  a  manner  as  to  reveal  the  real 


134  THE  AETIST. 

character  of  the  subject.  One  of  the  best  and  most 
successful  sculptors  in  America  in  posthumous  busts,  mod- 
els his  heads  in  -conformity  with  Phrenology.  If  firmness, 
force,  pride,  and  prowess  belonged  to  his  subject,  he  is 
careful  to  represent  the  organs  of  Firmness,  Self-Esteem, 
Combativeness,  and  Destructiveness  in  strong  develop- 
ment, and  the  world  wonders  how  the  very  life  and  char- 
acter of  the  man  can  be  so  embodied  in  the  marble  when 
the  artist  never  saw  the  original,  and  had  only  photographs 
to  work  from. 

An  artist  was  modeling  the  head  of  a  beautiful  girl 
from  a  single,  very  small  photograph,  the  only  one  the 
bereaved  family  had.  The  work  was  not  satisfactory  to 
the  friends,  and  the  writer  was  requested  to  inspect  the 
work  critically.  Having  during  her  life  examined  her 
head,  and  knowing  her  character,  he  at  once  saw  the  defect 
in  the  phrenological  development  of  the  head,  and  requested 
the  artist  to  pile  on  the  clay  half  an  inch  thick  at  Firm- 
ness, Conscientiousness,  Self-Esteem,  and  Causality.  This 
altered  the  whole  aspect  and  expression  of  the  head  and 
face,  and  the  parents  were  delighted  with  the  resemblance 
to  the  original,  and  it  was  then  put  in  enduring  marble. 

The  artist  who  attempts  to  get  along  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  Phrenology  is  not  aware  how  great  an  aid  he 
ignores.  We  have  seen  in  the  modeled  bust  of  General 
Jackson  a  striking  illustration  of  this  principle.  The  face, 
the  forehead,  and  the  front  hair  were  very  correct,  but 
the  crown  of  the  head  was  an  inch  and  a  half  too  low,  and 
gave  the  bust  an  expression  of  diffidence,  inefficiency,  and 
yielding  pliability  and  meekness  entirely  at  variance  with 


THE  SCULPTOK — ART  NOT  ENGINEERING.    135 

the  character  of  the  original.  Nobody  was  satisfied  with 
it,  and  only  the  phrenologist  knew  why  it  was  worthless. 

The  mechanic  who  becomes  an  inventor  is,  in  most 
instances,  an  artist  by  nature,  if  not  by  practice,  in  the 
beginning.  The  most  useful  inventions  have  flashed  in 
a  moment  upon  the  imagination  of  the  inventor,  although 
whole  years  might  require  to  be  consumed  by  the  mechan- 
ical and  mathematical  faculties  in  working  them  out. 

THE    SCULPTOR 

should  possess  a  fine  temperament  with  a  good  degree  of 
the  Motive  to  give  strength  and  vigor.  A  bland,  mellow, 
pliant  .character  has  less  sympathy  with  statuary,  with 
solid  forms  than  with  painting.  We  question  whether 
success  in  statuary  lias  been  produced  by  persons  having 
what  would  be  called  a  soft  temperament.  The  sculptor 
needs  Form,  Size,  Locality,  Const  met  ivoness,  Human 
Xature,  and  Comparison  ;  while  the  painter  requires  large 
Color  in  addition,  and,  we  fancy,  a  little  more  mellowness 
of  temperament. 

The  sculptor  must  have  large  Weight,  so  as  to  pose  the 
statue  properly,  to  balance  a  group,  especially  a  horse  and 
his  rider.  If  a  sculptor  fail  to  balance  a  statue  in  an  easy 
and  harmonious  manner,  or  if  a  painter  violate  the  law 
of  Weight  or  gravity  in  a  full-length  figure,  it  gives  one 
as  much  annoyance  as  it  is  said  architects  feel  in  looking 
at  the  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa. 

ART   NOT   ENGINEERING. 

The   engineer  who  employs  mathematics   and  certain 


136  THE  ARTIST. 

philosophical  laws  to  build  his  bridge  or  construct  his 
building,  pursues  his  course  with  a  plodding  deliberation, 
building  one  part  upon  another,  and  thus  in  consecutive 
order  works  out  his  problem,  guided  by  fixed  laws.  Not 
so  with  the  artist.  There  are  certain  executive  rules 
which  artists  can  be  taught  for  the  better  working  out  of 
their  conceptions  ;  but  the  artistic  spirit  must  be  possessed, 
the  creative  fancy  must  be  present  before  the  practical 
talents  can  be  rendered  useful  in  realizing  the  work  of 
the  artist.  The  great  majority  of  artists,  however,  live  an 
unhappy  because  an  unnatural  life ;  they  live  in  a  state  of 
nervous  excitability,  and  many  trust  to  tea,  tobacco,  alco- 
holic stimulants,  or  opium  to  stir  up  the  nervous  system 
to  its  work. 

ECCENTRICITY    OP   ARTISTS. 

There  is  no  reason  why  a  poet  or  an  artist  should  be 
negligent  in  his  dress,  quaint  in  his  manners,  and  in  many 
ways  violate  the  canons  of  good  taste  and  good  sense ; 
but  he  who  supposes  he  must  live  on  the  wings  of  imagi- 
nation constantly,  and  ignores  all  the  facts  of  common 
sense  and  common  life,  will  be  warped  and  peculiar  in  his 
artistic  or  poetic  manifestations.  The  artist  who  can 
cultivate  a  good  body  and  stern  common  sense,  who  can 
come  into  intimate  sympathy  with  common  people  in 
their  daily  pursuits  and  aspirations,  and  at  the  same 
time  have  all  those  artistic  conceptions  which  give  breadth 
and  finish  to  the  mind  and  its  work,  is  indeed  the  true 
artist.  The  pictures  which  live  are  those  which  are  based 
on  some  great  want  or  principle  of  human  nature.  A 


SENSE  IN  ART.  137 

work  of  art  conceived  in  the  realm  of  imagination  and 
wrought  out  in  that  realm,  may  be  brilliant,  but  will  be 
cold  as  an  icicle.  The  poets  and  artists  who  know  how  to 
appreciate  rustic  life,  give  us  poems,  pictures,  and  statues 
which  the  world,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  of  its 
children,  appreciates ;  and  such  works  are  stamped  with 
immortality. 

The  artist  ought  to  be  religious  as  well  as  moral.  He 
should  have  strong  social  affections,  so  that  his  work  may 
minister  to  that  great  element  of  human  life.  He  must 
put  love  in  the  statue  or  the  picture,  as  well  as  beauty ;  in 
short,  the  poet  or  the  artist  who  can  appeal  to  every  feel- 
ing that  is  natural  and  noble  in  human  nature  is  the  true 
artist,  and  in  proportion  as  men  approximate  to  this  high 
point  are  they  artists.  Artists  are  apt  to  be  egotistical ; 
they  live  so  much  in  the  realm  of  their  own  thoughts, 
that  whether  they  are  or  are  not  appreciated,  their  self- 
hood seems  to  stand  out  conspicuously.  Unfortunately, 
many  of  them  become  nervous,  crotchety,  eccentric,  sar- 
castic, and  at  cross  purposes  with  the  world,  chiefly  be- 
cause they  live  in  a  wrong  atmosphere.  They  seek  to  live 
wholly  on  the  wing,  when  they  should  often  touch  the 
solid  earth  of  common  life  and  common  sympathy. 

COMMON   SENSE   IN   ART. 

Art,  in  this  world  of  fancy  and  romance,  is  common, 
and  is  daily  becoming  more  so.  It  is  common  in  two 
senses.  First,  in  the  sense  of  frequency  ;  secondly,  in  the 
sense  of  mediocrity.  But  common  sense  Is  almost  the 
rarest  commodity  in  the  world.  COMMON  SENSE  results 


138  THE  ARTIST. 

from  the  harmonious,  full  development  of  all  the  intellect- 
ual organs,  without  a  high  degree  of  Mirth  fulness,  Imitation, 
Ideality,  and  Spirituality ;  in  other  words,  common  sense 
is  the  intellect  well  instructed  by  experience  of  common 
things  without  being  warped  by  imagination,  fancy,  or 
fanaticism.  ART  is  imagination,  invention,  and  fancy 
developed  by  Constructiveness  and  guided  by  intellect. 
In  order  that  such  intellectual  action  should  deserve  the 
name  of  common  sense,  it  should  have  practical  instruction 
and  experience  in  regard  to  the  outer  world.  Hogarth 
has  given  many  admirable  illustrations  of  artistic  effort  in 
violation  of  all  high  artistic  rules  and  of  the  laws  of 
common  sense;  but  we  have  seen  a  few  things  in  art 
which  showed  a  lack  of  practical  experience  in  the  world's 
affairs,  and  therefore  of  common  sense,  which  we  do  not 
remember  to  have  seen  in  Hogarth's  ludicrous  illustrations. 
Let  us  enumerate  a  few  : 

At  a  firemen's,  parade,  in  New  York  city,  we  observed 
that  the  ladders  of  one  of  the  hook  and  ladder  companies 
were  painted  wood  color  and  grained,  and  the  artistic 
grainer  must  needs  show  how  admirably  he  could  represent 
wood,  and  therefore  he  had  given  the  ridiculous  represen- 
tation of  ladders  half  a  hundred  feet  long  with  miserable 
cross-grained  wood  for  the  side  pieces.  We  are  not  certain 
whether  the  rounds  of  the  ladders  were  painted,  for  they 
were  not  in  sight,  but  presume,  if  they  were  painted  and 
grained  by  the  same  genius,  that  they  too  were  made  to 
show  crooked,  cross-grained  wood.  The  next  truck  that 
passed  in  the  procession  with  ladders  had  them  varnished 
upon  the  raw  wood,  and  we  observed  that  the  grain  of  the 


COMMON  SENSE  IN  ART.  139 

natural  timber  was  very  straight.  Now  everybody  knows, 
who  has  ever  used  a  ladder,  or  studied  how  they  are  made, 
or  ought  to  be  made,  that  the  very  straightest  of  timber 
must  be  selected  out  of  which  to  make  them.  The  same 
is  true  of  broom  handles,  hoe  handles,  rake  handles,  whip 
stocks,  axe  helves,  and  the  like. 

A  few  years  ago  an  oil  painting  was  for  sale  on  Broad- 
way, representing  a  horse  hitched  to  a  post  pulling  back- 
ward with  all  his  might ;  his  head  and  neck  were  straight- 
ened out,  and  his  legs  and  body  were  in  such  a  position  as 
indicated  the  horse  pulling  with  all  his  force  and  weight ; 
but  the  halter,  painted  by  the  artist,  instead  of  being  drawn 
particularly  straight,  appeared  so  slack  as  to  sag  nearly  six 
inches.  If  such  an  artist  could  wear  a  halter  long  enough, 
and  be  gently  rapped  over  the  head  hard  enough  to  learn 
that  a  horse,  or  ass,  pulling  at  a  halter  would  necessarily 
straighten  it,  both  art  and  artist  might  be  improved. 

One  of  the  principal  express  companies  in  New  York 
had  a  card,  half  a  foot  in  length,  printed  in  .various  colors, 
on  which  was  an  engraving  representing  a  long  team  of 
horses,  one  forward  of  another,  with  a  baggage  wagon 
loaded  excessively,  with  boxes  piled  up  higher  than  the 
wagon.  Every  horse  appeared  to  be  pulling  with  all  his 
might ;  but,  strange  to  say,  the  draw-chains  from  the  head 
of  the  team  to  the  wagon,  though  elaborately  represented, 
and  all  the  links  minutely  defined,  hung  along  in  festoons 
the  whole  distance,  when  they  should  have  been  drawn 
straight.  We  think  if  the  artist  could  be  made  to  hold 
on  to  the  end  of  that  chain  and  have  the  suggester,  com- 
monly called  whip,  applied  to  him  for  awhile,  as  it  is  to  a 


140  THE  ARTIST. 

draught  horse,  he  would  find  out  that  hard  pulling  would 
straighten  the  chain  instead  of  leaving  it  slack.     For  such 

O  •  O 

egregious  blunders  there  is  no  excuse. 

City  artists  sometimes  make  awkward  and  ridiculous 
blunders — for  which  wre  do  not  mean  to  pardon  them,  but 
for  which  we  can  see  some  excuse — namely,  they  draw  and 
engrave  a  company  of  mowers  swinging  their  scythes  from 
left  to  right;  or  they  make  a  shop  full  of  blacksmiths, 
every  one  of  whom  is  hammering  the  iron  with  his  left 
hand ;  or,  as  we  frequently  see,  the  picture  of  a  lady  on 
horseback  sitting  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  horse.  Now 
these  three  instances  of  left-handed  pictures  were  drawn 
so  that  they  looked  right  on  the  block  or  plate,  but,  of 
course,  when  the  printing  was  done,  it  reversed  it,  and 
made  the  right-handed  drawing  a  left-handed  picture  in 
print.  The  common  reader  may  not  be  aware  that  the 
faces  of  types  and  of  engravings  are  made  backward,  but 
come  right  when  impressed  on  the  paper.  In  all  the  pic- 
tures we  have  seen  representing  the  woodman,  we  have 
never  seen  an  axe  properly  drawn.  It  looks  more  like  a 
butcher's  meat-cleaver ;  sometimes  it  looks  like  a  broad- 
faced  hatchet  or  ancient  battle-axe  without  any  head  to  it. 

There  is  in  market  a  very  large,  elaborate,  and  ex- 
pensive picture.  It  is  a  plowing  scene.  The  field  of 
ground  which  is  unplowed,  and  a  part  of  it  which  is 
plowed,  together  with  a  plow  in  its  furrow,  are  properly 
represented ;  but  the  "  near "  ox,  which  ought  to  be  on 
the  unplowed  ground,  is  traveling  in  the  furrow,  and  the 
"off"  ox,  which  ought  to  be  in  the  last  furrow,  is  crowded 
away  upon  the  plowed  field  some  two  or  three  furrows 


COMMON  SENSE  IN  AKT.  141 

from  where  he  should  be.  In  this  case,  the  plow,  though 
drawn  very  directly  between  the  oxen,  is  cutting  its  fur- 
row quite  on  the  left  side  of  the  left-hand  ox,  and,  if  we 
mistake  not  (as  we  have  not  seen  the  picture  recently,  for 
it  gave  us  such  a  back-ache  that  we  have  since  studiously 
avoided  it),  the  driver  is  walking  in  the  plowed  portion  of 
the  field,  at  the  off  side  of  the  team,  where  we  never  saw 
the  driver  of  an  ox-team  walk.  It  is,  however,  a  common 
error  in  pictures  to  put  the  driver  of  oxen  on  the  "  off"  side 
of  his  team,  and  we  presume  such  an  instance  in  practice 
can  not  be  found  from  one  end  of  the  country,  to  the  other, 
except,  perhaps,  with  road-makers,  who  might  sometimes 
find  it  convenient  to  have  the  team  at  their  left  hand.  We 
have  seen  one  or  two  engravings  of  milkmaids  on  the 
proper  side  of  the  cow,  but  where  we  have  seen  one  such, 
wre  have  seen  ten  representing  the  milker  on  the  wrong 
side.  Artists  who  undertake  to  represent  horses  pulling, 
or  in  harness,  farmers  mowing,  blacksmiths  hammering, 
horseback  riding,  or  plowing  scenes,  would  do  well  to 
observe  these  common  facts  of  every-day  life,  and  try  to 
see  them  as  they  exist  in  practice ;  in  other  words,  use 
common  sense  with  their  artistic  talent.  It  certainly 
would  look  queer  to  put  the  head  of  an  ox  on  the  body 
of  a  horse,  or  the  tail  of  a  horse  on  the  body  of  an  ox,  in 
art;  but  it  would  be  no  more  untrue  to  nature  and  to 
reality  than  it  is  to  put  to  an  overloaded  wagon  a  train  of 
horses  in  the  attitude  of  rapid  progress,  pulling  with  all 
their  might,  with  their  draw-chains  hanging  from  one  end 
of  the  team  to  the  other  in  easy  festoons  of  slackness. 
We  have  heard  the  story  of  a  painter  who  was  employed 


142  THE  AKTIST. 

to  paint  a  ship.  When  he  came  to  the  anchor,  he  inquired 
of  the  captain  what  color  he  should  make  it.  The  captain 
replied,  "  Paint  it  whatever  color  you  please."  Instead 
of  painting  it  black,  as  iron  in  such  form  usually  is,  he 
painted  and  grained  it  the  color  of  pine  wood,  but  it  looked 
so  incongruous  the  captain  ordered  it  painted  black,  lest, 
when  thrown  overboard,  it  should  refuse  to  sink. 

Artists  rarely  or  never  represent  correctly  an  overshot 
mill  wheel.  Instead  of  the  water  falling  quietly  into  the 
buckets  in  a  smooth  stream,  and  settling  into  the  buckets 
nearly  out  of  sight,  and  being  thus  carried  toward  the 
bottom  of  the  wheel  before  emptying,  the  stream  is 
erroneously  represented  as  running  right  over  the  buckets 
in  an  unbroken  current,  and  leaving  the  wheel  in  the  same 
continuous  manner,  precisely  as  it  would  if  the  wheel  stood 
still  and  had  no  buckets  at  all.  One  good  look  at  such  a 
wheel  when  in  motion  would  instantly  show  the  fallacy 
of  such  a  representation. 

Cart  wheels  which  are  made  of  sections  or  felloes  are 
represented  usually  without  any  regard  to  where  the  joints 
of  the  rim  are  placed,  and  they  are  often  shown  as  occur- 
ring at  the  entrance  of  the  spokes,  when  they  ought  to  be 
at  equal  distances  from  the  spokes.  An  artist  had  finished 
a  rural  picture  representing  a  litter  of  pigs,  with  their 
mother,  eating  at  a  trough.  They  were  faultlessly  drawn 
and  colored.  Every  anatomical  and  physiological  peculi- 
arity of  each  pig  was  nicely  observed  in  the  treatment ; 
they  stood  in  a  handsome  row,  trim  and  orderly,  but  he 
had  left  the  pig  character  entirely  out  of  the  picture.  An 
Irish  farm  laborer  happening  to  be  present,  the  artist,  feel- 


TEACHEKS  AND  TEACHING  143 

ing  confident  he  would  appreciate  the  picture,  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  it. 

He  instantly  replied,  "  Faix,  it's  a  purty  nice  picture, 
sir ;  but  who  iver  saw  siven  pigs  atin'  pacibly  wid  niver  a 
fut  in  the  trough  ?  " 


TEACHERS    AND    TEACHING. 

It  is  thought  by  some  people,  especially  those  who  have 
but  little  education,  and  are  obliged  to  work  at  some  labo- 
rious calling,  that  all  the  professions  are  very  easy ;  and 
they  often  say  that  the  lawyer,  the  minister,  the  teacher,  the 
physician  earn  their  money  with  little  or  no  labor.  Such 
persons  seem  to  think  that  the  man  who  does  not  raise  a 
bushel  of  corn,  make  a  horseshoe,  or  work  up  trees  into 
cordwood  or  lumber,  is  not  a  producer,  and  therefore  is  a 
pensioner  upon  the  bounty  and  leniency  of  the  world. 
We  hold  that  the  thinker,  the  brain  laborer,  and  especially 
the  teacher  who  instructs  the  young  in  all  that  pertains  to 
literature  and  science,  is  as  really  a  producer  as  he  who 
uses  his  knowledge  toward  the  accomplishment  of  busi- 
ness purposes.  The  teacher  who  instructs  the  pupil  how 
to  keep  accounts,  and  qualifies  him  for  commerce,  banking, 
and  other  business,  contributes  as  essentially  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  property  as  he  does  who  keeps  the  accounts,  plans 
the  business,  and  works  out  the  results.  One  might  say 
that  the  grindstone  is  not  a  producer  because  it  never  cuts 
down  trees,  or  hews  timber,  or  mows  grass,  or  planes 
boards ;  but  the  axe,  the  scythe,  and  the  plane  are  useless 
without  the  sharp  edge  which  the  grindstone  imparts.  So 


144  TEACHEES  AND  TEACHING. 

the  human  mind  sent  out  into  life  without  the  sharpening 
influence  of  education  can  not  with  facility  hew  its  way  to 
success.  Let  the  teacher  then  feel  that  he  is  the  main 
spoke  in  the  wheel  of  the  world's  success,  and  while  doing 
his  duty  faithfully  and  nobly,  let  him  stand  erect  as  one 
of  the  world's  noblemen. 

SOUND   CONSTITUTION   AND  .HEALTfi. 

But  what  does  the  teacher  require  ?  mentally  and  physi- 
cally, what  should  he  have?  First,  an  elastic  and  ener- 
getic constitution,  with  a  predominance  of  the  Mental  and 
Motive  temperaments,  which  give  activity  and  compact- 
ness to  the  mind,  strength  and  earnestness  to  the  character. 
He  also  needs  health,  and  the  ample  physical  exercise 
which  promotes  health.  A  sickly,  dyspeptic,  nervous, 
half-dead  man  has  no  more  business  in  the  school-room,  as 
a  teacher,  than  a  crippled  horse  has  on  the  race-course,  or 
a  half-wrecked  leaky  ship  has  to  go  forth  upon  the  ocean. 
The  teacher  requires  a  large  and  active  brain,  with,  a  de- 
cided predominance  of  the  perceptive  intellect ;  the  lower 
part  of  his  forehead  should  be  amply  developed.  These 
faculties  enable  him  to  acquire  knowledge.  He  should  also 
be  lull  through  the  middle  portion  of  the  forehead,  where 
the  organs  of  memory  are  located,  that  he  may  treasure 
up  and  hold  in  reserve  the  knowledge  which  he  wishes  to 
retain.  The  teacher  should  have  large  Language,  that  he 
may  be  able  to  explain  easily  and  fully  that  which  he 
knows  and  is  engaged  in  teaching.  He  should  also  have 
strong  reasoning  faculties,  so  that  he  can  answer  the 
questions  of  inquisitive  pupils ;  that  he  may  see  the  bent 


STRONG  MOKAL  SENTIMENTS.  145 

and  bearing  of  his  instructions,  and  be  able  to  explain  the 
philosophy  of  any  point  involved  in  his  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion. His  back-head  should  also  be  amply  developed,  to 
give  him  strong  social  feeling.  He  should  love  children ; 
and  also  be  loving  and  fraternal.  He  should  have  Conti- 
nuity, to  enable  him  to  exercise  patience  in  the  monotony 
which  is  more  or  less  incident  to  teaching;  but  not  so 
much  as  to  make  him  prosy  and  oblivious  to  everything 
but  the  special  point  in  question,  because  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  variety  necessarily  connected  with  the  voca- 
tion of  teaching,  and  the  mind  must  sometimes  rapidly  go 
from  one  subject  to  another.  His  Self-Esteem  should  be 
rather  large,  which  will  give  him  dignity  and  ease  and 
weight  of  character,  and  enable  him  so  to  carry  himself  in 
the  presence  of  his  pupils  as  to  command  their  respect,  and 
thereby  secure  obedience  without  fret  or  friction. 

STRONG   MORAL   SENTIMENTS. 

He  should  have  large  Conscientiousness,  that  he  may 
be  just  to  all,  and  to  himself;  for  nothing  so  undermines 
the  authority  or  proper  influence  of  the  teacher  as  the 
exhibition  of  partiality,  favoritism,  or  injustice  in  any  form 
in  the  school.  Large  Veneration  and  Benevolence  are 
useful  everywhere,  but  especially  should  a  teacher  be 
respectful  and  impress  upon  his  pupils  a  consciousness  that 
there  is  a  higher  Power,  and  that  reverence  for  authority 
is  a  virtue.  If  he  have  good  Constructiveness  and  Ideal- 
ity, he  will  be  ingenious  in  his  method  of  conducting  the 
instruction  of  his  classes ;  and  with  large  Comparison,  he 
will  be  enabled  to  make  apt  illustrations  and  thus  elucidate 


146  TEACHEKS  AND  TEACHING. 

and  enforce  dry  and  uninteresting  subjects  of  study.  A 
full  share  of  Cautiousness  and  Secretiveness  is  also  requi- 
site, for  these  give  a  man  control  of  his  feelings  and  ex- 
pressions. 

STEADY   AND    EQUABLE   TEMPEE. 

A  teacher  should  never  show  himself  out  of  temper 
unless  he  wishes  to  create  a  Babel  in  his  school-room,  yet 
his  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  should  be  fully 
developed ;  for  he  who  is  destitute  of  these  will  be  soon 
understood  by  mischievous  urchins  who  read  mind  better 
than  we  sometimes  suppose,  and  will  instantly  take  advant- 
age of  any  weakness  or  defect  of  the  teacher.  The  facul- 
ties of  Combatiyeness  and  Destructiveness  in  human  char- 
acter impress  boys  as  distinctly  as  large  horns  on  the  head 
of  an  ox  impress  his  associates  with  a  feeling  of  respect 
for  him.  Neither  force  of  character  in  man  nor  the  horns 
of  the  ox  need  be  strikingly  used,  but  it  is  best  that  they 
be  possessed  and  their  normal  influence  felt.  The  teacher 
should  aim  to  cultivate  a  kindly  tone  of  voice.  If  he  have 
a  harsh  one,  he  should  school  himself  into  a  modulated  ex- 
pression of  it,  and  his  whole  manner  should  be  such  as  to 
inspire  respect  mingled  with  a  trace  of  fear.  It  is  well, 
generally,  for  a  teacher  to  speak  in  a  low  tone  of  voice, 
never  raising  it  above  the  common  conversational  key. 
Scolding,  sharpness,  and  loudness  of  voice  are  found  rarely 
in  conjunction  with  good  order  and  good  government  in  a 
a  school  or  elsewhere.  A  teacher  organized  thus,  and  well 
instructed  in  all  the  branches  he  is  expected  to  teach,  will 
never  be  suspected  by  his  pupils  of  any  want  of  informa- 
tion or  ability  to  instruct  them. 


MODEL  TEACHER.  147 

A  teacher  with  small  perceptives,  a  poor  memory,  and 
a  sluggish  temperament  will  hesitate  when  pupils  ask 
questions  for  information,  and  they  will  readily  conclude 
he  does  not  know  his  subjects  well,  and  thus  they  will 
come  to  distrust  and  disrespect  him.  The  teacher  who 
has  his  knowledge  at  his  tongue's  end,  and  his  answers 
ready  as  soon  as  questions  are  propounded,  will  be  con- 
sidered an  oracle  of  knowledge.  We  know  a  lady  teacher 
of  Greek  who  never  opens  a  book  during  lengthy  recita- 
tions. She  knows  the  whole  text  book  "  by  heart,"  and 
her  pupils  have  the  highest  respect  for  her  rendering  of 
the  lesson,  and  for  her  as  a  teacher.  If,  like  most  teachers, 
she  had  to  hold  the  book  and  labor  and  hesitate  over  the 
lessons,  pupils  would  begin  to  argue  and  offer  adverse 
opinions. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  a  teacher  needs  an  excellent 
organization,  mental  and  physical;  that  he  needs  all  the 
Christian  graces  carried  in  a  spirit  of  wisdom.  How 
many  teachers  in  a  hundred  would  meet  these  requisitions ! 
how  many  are  there  who  fall  below  them  who  might 
greatly  improve !  and,  from  having  indifferent  success, 
might  triumph,  and  become  not  only  exceedingly  useful, 
but  highly  esteemed,  popular,  and  happy,  as  well  as  suc- 
cessful in  a  pecuniary  sense. 


148  EDITOKSHIP— QUALIFICATIONS. 

EDITORSHIP. 

The  question  is  frequently  asked, "  "What  abilities  should 
be  possessed,  and  what  books  should  be  studied,  to  enable 
one  to  become  a  first-class  composer  and  correspondent  for 
a  daily  or  weekly  journal?" 

To  be  a  first-class  editor  or  correspondent,  one  ought  to 
know  as  much  of  the  subject-matter  on  which  he  writes  as 
can  be  known  ;  certainly  he  ought  to  know  more  respect- 
ing it  than  those  who  read  his  articles. 

NATURAL   QUALIFICATIONS. 

"We  may  therefore  say  that  an  editor  ought  to  have  a 
comprehensive  intellect,  which  signifies,  first,  a  large 
development  of  the  perceptive  organs,  which  give  promi- 
nence to  the  brow  and  lower  part  of  the  forehead.  These 
faculties  enable  their  possessor  to  gather  knowledge  rapidly 
and  accurately;  to  see  all  that  is  going  on,  and  to  appre- 
ciate whatever  is  related.  They  give  also  the  basis  of 
scientific  information  or  power  to  acquire  the  necessary 
knowledge  for  scientific  subjects,  that  he  may  be  intelli- 
gent in  that  direction.  These  faculties  also  enable  one  to 
acquire  knowledge  from  books  and  retain  it. 

The  editor  should  have,  secondly,  the  reasoning  or  phi- 
losophical faculties  well  developed,  that  he  may  compre- 
hend the  logic  of  subjects  and  the  law  of  things.  The 
majority  of  American  editors  will  be  found  with  the  lower 
half  of  the  forehead  more  amply  developed  than  the  upper 
half.  They  are  fact-gatherers  rather  than  thinkers ;  and 
the  result  of  their  labor  is  very  apt  to  contain  much  crude 
matter.  Many  editors  are  much  more  like  the  farm-rake, 


REVIEW  EDITOR,  149 

which  gathers  up  wheat  and  tares,  hay,  thistles,  and  thorns 
together,  than  like  the  winnowing  mill,  which  separates 
the  chaff  from  the  wheat.  As  evidence  that  the  generality 
of  editors  are  mere  observers  and  not  deep  thinkers,  it  may 
be  remarked  that  if  one  of  the  editorial  fraternity  happens 
to  possess  large  reasoning  organs,  and  ventures  to  reach 
forward  in  the  realm  of  ideas  much  in  advance  of  his  age, 
he  is  laughed  at  through  many  of  the  newspapers  as  being 
a  "  philosopher,"  a  "  dreamer,"  a  "  speculative  theorist." 
If  all  editors  and  newspaper  writers  had  large  Causality 
and  Comparison,  they  would  not  jeer  and  laugh  at  a  man 
who  was  inclined  to  originality  of  mind,  and  boldly  struck 
out  into  the  untrodden  realms  of  thought. 

REVIEW    EDITOR. 

In  one  aspect  of  the  subject,  the  editor  is  required  to  be 
merely  an  arranger  of  the  matter  produced  by  others — a 
digester,  a  critic,  a  compiler.  One  who  edits  a  great 
Review  is  not  expected,  for  he  has  not  the  time,  and 
probably  not  the  varied  learning  and  information  necessary, 
to  write  well  upon  all  subjects  which  go  to  make  up  the 
contents  of  the  Review.  One  man  has  spent  his  life  in  the 
field  of  chemistry,  another  in  mining,  another  in  metaphys- 
ics, another  in  mechanics,  another  in  medicine,  another  in 
agriculture,  another  in  political  economy ;  and  these 
several  subjects  can  be  presented  by  those  who  have 
made  them  a  specialty,  respectively,  more  clearly  and 
forcibly  than  any  one  man  can  be  expected  to  do.  But  an 
editor  of  such  a  Review  ought  to  have  a  first-class  head 
and  generous  culture,  so  that  he  may  estimate  the  labors 


150  EDITOKSHIP. 

of  these  special  coadjutors;  otherwise,  if  he  were  acting 
as  a  mere  bricklayer,  putting  in  place  the  productions  of 
others,  he  would  be  likely  to  give  to  the  world  a  good 
deal  of  crude  matter. 

POLITICAL   EDITOR. 

A  political  editor  needs  an  excellent  memory  to  hold 
the  general  knowledge  which  is  requisite  to  the  editorial 
profession,  that  he  may  remember  the  history  of  politicians 
and  legislators,  the  history  of  nations,  of  science,  of  litera- 
ture and  law,  and  also  that  he  may  remember  what  he 
himself  has  said  and  done  years  before.  An  editor  should 
be  able  to  carry  in  his  memory  all  that  he  has  ever  written 
and  published,  so  that  he  shall  be  consistent,  and  that  one 
year's  experience  shall  give  him  light  for  the  next  year's 
labor.  But  we  would  not  make  a  man  a  slave  to  the  past 
through  a  retentive  memory.  We  would  have  him  open 
to  progress,  to  improvement,  to  new  truths,  and  to  reforms ; 
but  we  would  have  his  memory  sufficiently  tenacious  not 
to  forget  the  pit  from  which  he  had  been  digged — the  old 
errors  and  ignorances  in  which  he  had  at  some  time  floun- 
dered. We  have  known  reformers  who  forgot  the  igno- 
rance and  weakness  from  which  they  had  emerged,  and 
who  seemed  to  delight  in  charging  with  wickedness  and 
folly  those  who  occupied  the  same  position  which,  but  a 
few  years  before,  they  had  left.  This  is  as  ridiculous  as  it 
is  for  a  man  who,  by  accident  or  energy,  has  made  himself 
rich,  and  then  turns  around  and  abuses  and  denounces 
"  poor  people  "  because  they  are  poor.  It  is  both  ridicu- 
lous and  pitiable  to  read  the  editorials  of  some  newspapers ; 


MORAL  COURAGE  REQUIRED.  151 

to  see  how  to-day  subjects  and  persons  will  be  petted  and 
praised  who,  five  years  ago,  were  vilified  and  denounced. 
A  better  memory  of  the  past  should  serve  to  correct  such 
folly  in  the  present.  Besides,  an  editor  needs  conscience 
in  strong  measure.  lie  wields  a  wondrous  power,  and  can 
be  a  tyrant  if  he  is  so  disposed.  An  editor  who  lacks 
conscience,  and  has  excessive  selfishness  and  severity,  can 
slaughter  reputation,  can  plant  thorns  in  the  pillow  of 
innocence  without  incurring  legal  penalty,  and  without  the 
power  of  undoing  his  own  mischief.  An  editor,  therefore, 
should  be  truthful,  just,  upright ;  he  should  have  large 
Benevolence,  so  as  to  be  tender  of  other  people's  feelings 
and  interests. 

MORAL   COURAGE   REQUIRED. 

An  editor  should  also  have  courage — no  position  needs 
greater ;  having  a  selfish  world  to  deal  with,  he  should  be 
willing  to  utter  the  truth  when  justice  demands  that  an 
unpleasant  truth  be  spoken,  and  then  to  back  it  up.  A 
want  of  courage  in  an  editor  is  as  bad  as  a  lack  of  courage 
in  a  soldier ;  for  while  cowardice  or  treason  in  a  soldier 
may  cause  the  loss  of  a  battle,  a  lack  of  courage  or  con- 
science in  an  editor  may  poison  the  public  morals,  and, 
perhaps,  contribute  to  the  loss  of  a  battle  as  well.  An 
editor  should  have  large  Language,  that  he  may  write 
with  ease  and  facility ;  he  should  have  good  taste,  that 
his  style  may  be  smooth  and  elegant,  and  that  his  writings 
shall  not  offend  the  tastes  of  his  readers.  We  would  not 
give  him  excessive  Benevolence  and  Ideality ;  while  lack 
of  Combativeness,  Firmness,  and  Self-Esteem  renders  the 
editor  pusillanimous,  and  leads  him  to  soften  the  truth 


152  EDITORSHIP. 

until  its  very  back-bone  is  withdrawn  ;  but  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  manly  courage,  unyielding  determination,  serene 
dignity,  and  unflinching  justice,  combined  with  kindness, 
affection,  and  proper  consideration  for  the  rights,  preju- 
dices, and  even  the  ignorance  of  others. 

Men  of  power  should  carry  that  power  gently;  one 
does  not  lose  his  vantage  ground,  who  really  possesses  it, 
by  trying  a  gentle  method  of  accomplishing  results.  He 
who  has  a  hundred  cannon  at  his  back  can  afford  to  be 
polite  to  an  opponent,  and  request  the  favor  of  a  compli- 
ance with  his  wishes.  A  general  who  is  capable  of  back- 
ing up  his  demands,  need  not  insult  a  foe  when  he  requests 
his  surrender.  An  editor  who  has  the  best  of  a  contro- 
versy loses  nothing  by  being  modest ;  he  who  has  a 
clincher  for  an  argument  can  afford  to  suggest  it,  instead 
of  rudely  cramming  it  down  his  opponent's  throat. 

PRUDENCE   AND   POLICY. 

An  editor  also  needs  large  Cautiousness  and  Secretive- 
ness,  so  that  he  shall  not  rashly  adopt  any  course,  or  im- 
prudently lead  others  into  wrong  by  the  expression  of 
undigested  opinions.  There  is  quite  as  much  wisdom  in 
the  silence  which  large  Secretiveness  imposes  as  there  is  in 
dashing  courage  which  large  Combativeness  inspires ;  but 
with  large  Benevolence  and  strong  social  affection,  the 
editor  will  be  inspired  by  general  good-will  to  the  weak 
and  the  wicked,  as  well  as  to  the  good  and  the  noble. 
This  good-will  will  give  him  a  tendency  to  put  the  best 
face  on  everything;  to  remember  that  the  accused  may 
have  a  good  defense ;  that  there  is  generally  another  side 


NECESSARY  EDUCATION.  153 

to  every  bad  story.  A  rash,  unkindly  man,  as  editor,  will 
hunt  the  accused  before  he  has  time  to  enter  his  plea  of  "  not 
guilty,"  or  to  "  put  himself  upon  his  country  "  for  defense. 
As  to  the  works  which  should  be  studied  to  aid  one  to 
become  a  first-class  writer,  we  may  say  what  we  have 
often  said  to  persons  who  were  receiving  private  phreno- 
logical examinations  at  our  hands,  viz.,  that  an  editor, 
a  lawyer,  or  a  minister  should  know  everything  that  can 
be  known,  in  order  to  completely  fulfill  the  duties  of  then- 
respective  offices.  All  literature,  all  science,  all  history 
will  aid  the  editor,  and  the  more  he  can  have  of  general 
culture  the  better. 

NECESSARY   EDUCATION. 

In  the  first  place,  he  should  be  a  good  English  scholar 
or  a  master  of  his  mother  tongue,  whatever  that  may  be ; 
if  he  can  have  classical  learning,  all  the  better.  He  should 
be  well  read  in  the  history  of  nations,  and  especially  in 
the  history  of  individuals ;  for  if  such  history  be  properly 
written,  it  will  open  the  character,  and  motive,  and  pur- 
pose, and  effort  of  historical  persons,  as  well  as  reveal  the 
result. 

The  editor  should  understand  human  nature  physiologi- 
cally, phrenologically,  and  theologically.  It  is  not  enough 
^that  he  should  study  external  things;  he  should  study 
men,  mind,  the  inner  life  of  humanity,  that  he  may  know 
to  whom  he  is  talking,  as  well  as  what  he  is  talking  about. 

Moreover,  and  finally,  an  editor  should  be  imbued  with 
a  religious  spirit,  that  he  may  ever  remember  that  the 
noise  and  bustle,  the  excitements  and  strifes  of  to-day  are 

7* 


154  THE  REPOKTER. 

of  less  consequence  than  those  subjects  which,  while  they 
have  their  roots  in  time,  have  the  life  to  come  for  their 
complete  development.  An  irreligious  witticism  may 
raise  a  laugh  and  give  its  author  a  momentary  popularity, 
but  that  witticism  may  sting  the  heart  of  innocence ;  may 
blunt  the  moral  susceptibility  of  some  weak  brother  who 
would  otherwise  lead  a  virtuous  life.  For  if  the  editor  be 
endowed  with  sufficient  wisdom  to  do  his  intellectual 
labor  well,  and  a  sufficient  amount  of  moral  and  religious 
feeling  to  desire  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number 
for  time  and  for  eternity,  he  will  feel  that  his  publication 
is  like  a  voice  that  reaches  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
not  only  speaks  to  the  human  race  of  to-day,  but  that  it 
shall  continue  to  speak  when  the  hand  that  penned  it  is 
still,  and  it  becomes  a  record  for  all  time.  A  clergyman 
may  chance  to  speak  to  five  hundred  people,  a  lecturer  to 
a  similar  number,  but  an  editor  may  speak  to  millions ; 
and  his  thoughts  may  be  copied  for  the  reading  of  other 
millions,  besides  remaining  in  print  for  coming  generations 
to  peruse. 

THE    REPORTER. 

In  former  ages — indeed,  in  the  early  part  of  our  own 
age — the  orator,  if  he  would  have  his  speech  read  by 
others,  was  obliged  to  write  it  out,  either  before  it  was 
delivered  or  from  memory  afterward.  The  speech,  as 
written,  might  be  stately  and  polished,  but  it  lacked  that 
electrical  force  which  the  excitement  of  the  moment  brings 
out  in  extemporaneous  utterance.  It  is  interesting  to  see 
the  difference  between  a  speech  that  is  prepared  in  ad- 


THE  BEPORTEB.  155 

vance  of  its  delivery  and  handed  over  to  be  put  in  type 
for  the  use  of  some  favorite  morning  paper,  and  the  real 
speech  as  uttered  under  the  impulse  and  inspiration  of  a 
large  and  interested  audience,  and  reported  on  the  spot 
verbatim  for  other  papers.  Though  the  carefully  written 
speech  were  the  same  in  general  substance  and  drift,  its 
real  spirit  could  be  obtained  only  by  reading  the  short- 
hand reporter's  version  of  it  as  it  fell  from  the  lips  of  the 
excited  orator  with  all  the  scintillations  called  out  by  the 
tune,  place,  and  incidental  circumstances. 

The  world  does  not  consider,  and  in  the  main  does  not 
know,  how  much  it  is  to-day  indebted  to  the  reporter  for 
its  knowledge  of  affairs.  Fifty  years  ago  Congressional 
reports,  and  the  reports  of  all  legislative  bodies,  and  of 
religious  conventions,  synods,  etc.,  were  meagre — mere  ab- 
stracts ;  hardly  the  dry  bones,  indeed,  of  the  proceedings 
and  speeches  were  presented  to  the  public. 

Now,  by  the  aid  of  shorthand  and  its  twin  brother, 
telegraphy,  speeches  made  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  in  the 
Senate  or  in  Parliament  are  presented  fresh  and  full,  in  the 
very  words  of  the  speaker,  in  all  the  leading  papers  the 
next  morning.  The  man  intoxicated  by  passion  or  by 
strong  drink  is  reported  verbatim  to  his  disgusted  con- 
stituents and  an  astonished  public.  Burns  uttered  the 
the  immortalized  words : 

"  O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us, 
To  see  oursels  as  ithers  see  us, 
It  wad  frae  mony  a  blunder  free  us, 
And  foolish  notion ; " 

1>ut  the  reporter  makes  a  man's  constituents  see  him  as  his 


156  THE  REPOETER. 

colleagues  in  the  legislature  and  convention  are  compelled 
to  see  him ;  and  though  the  reporter  gives  to  the  world  a 
deal  of  chaff  which  is  uttered  in  public  assemblies,  he 
gives  also,  fortunately,  the  wheat  as  well.  If  the  public  is 
disgusted  by  the  report  of  the  speech  of  the  Honorable 
Bombastes  Furioso,  it  is  favored  with  the  sound,  eloquent, 
and  statesmanlike  views  of  those  who  do  not  misrepresent 
constituencies ;  thus  a  man  is  enabled  to  have  the  reputa- 
tion to  which  he  is  entitled.  If  he  be  a  braggart  and  a 
fool,  a  wise  constituency  will  wisely  elect  him  to  stay  at 
home ;  if  he  have  in  him  real  merit,  talent,  and  worth,  the 
world  is  made  aware  of  it.  The  sayings  and  doings,  then, 
of  the  world — those  that  are  worth  transmitting — are  pre- 
sented to  us  by  the  aid  of  the  reporter,  telegrapher,  and 
printer,  upon  our  breakfast-tables  every  morning.  This 
triune  fraternity  (the  most  important  member  of  which  is 
the  reporter,  for  how  could  it  be  transmitted  unless  it  were 
reported,  or  printed  except  it  were  reported  and  trans- 
mitted ?)  deserves  well  in  public  esteem. 

POPULAR    REPORTING. 

A  bustling  crowd  of  people  who  attend  upon  legislative 
debates,  courts,  or  public  lectures,  and  witness  the  en- 
trance of  the  modest  young  men  who  quietly  glide  to 
their  places  near  the  speaker's  stand,  may,  if  they  please, 
look  upon  them  with  indifference ;  but  if  they  knew  their 
worth,  if  they  considered  the  service  rendered  by  them  to 
the  public,  and  the  elements  of  reform  and  progress  which 
grow  out  of  their  labor,  they  would  see,  as  it  were,  a  dia- 
mond blazing  on  the  brow  of  every  one  of  those  pale, 


LEGAL  REPOKTI^G.  157 

quiet  reporters.  One  of  them  having  taken  ten  minutes 
of  the  great  speech,  another  takes  it  up,  and  with  his  quick 
pencil  continues  the  report  of  the  discourse,  while  the  first 
quietly  retiring  hurries  to  the  printing-office  or  telegraph- 
office  to  copy  and  transmit  his  portion  of  the  speech  to  the 
waiting  type-setters;  and  in  like  manner  eight  or  ten 
reporters  in  succession  may  carry  their  part  away.  Four, 
six,  eight,  or  more  long  columns  of  closely  printed  matter 
show  at  daylight  the  next  morning  the  result  but  not  the 
real  magnitude  of  the  reporter's  labor. 

This  is  only  an  outward  view  of  the  reporter's  life.  The 
last  one  in  the  line  may  get  the  close  of  the  speech  at  half- 
past  ten ;  two  hours  may  be  required  to  reach  the  print- 
ing-office and  copy  out  his  report,  and  two  hours  more 
before  he  can  inspect  the  proof;  and  at  two  or  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  he  is  permitted  with  weary  body 
and  burning  brain  to  hurry  home  to  repose.  At  ten  next 
morning  he  repairs  to  the  newspaper  office,  and  is  assigned 
to  duty  for  that  day  or  night.  This  may  be  called  the 
simplicity  of  reporting. 

LEGAL   REPORTING. 

If  the  reporter  be  engaged  in  Court,  all  the  questions 
and  answers  of  counsel  and  witnesses,  all  the  remarks  of 
the  judges,  all  the  conflicts  of  counsel  must  generally  be 
taken  verbatim.  Formerly  it  was  a  slow  process  to  take 
testimony,  when  the  attorneys  themselves  must  write 
down  every  word  in  longhand ;  but  now  the  court  pro- 
ceedings march  onward  as  if  no  delay  were  needed,  for 
the  nimble  fingers  of  the  quick-eared  "  stenographer  "  get 


158  THE  EEPOETEB. 

every  word,  so  that  lie  can  swear  to  it  if  necessary. 
Imagine  a  noisy  session  of  a  legislative  body ;  appeals  to 
the  chair  and  calls  to  order  are  being  thrust  in,  and  there 
is  the  struggle  of  the  member  who  has  the  floor,  or  thinks 
he  has  it,  to  inflict  his  heavy  speech  upon  unwilling  ears, 
etc.  The  reporter,  one  would  suppose,  needs  more  than  his 
single  set  of  senses  to  get  all  that  is  said,  to  know  who 
says  it,  the  order  in  which  it  occurs,  and  have  it  put  down 
correctly  in  black  and  white. 

OFFICE   REPORTING. 

Another  kind  of  reporting  is  that  which  is  done  in  an 
office  such  as  a  phrenological  cabinet,  where  "character" 
from  dictation  is  taken  down  at  length  and  carefully 
copied  out  in  longhand.  Lawyers  also  employ  reporters 
in  their  offices,  to  whom  they  dictate  letters,  contracts,  de- 
positions, and  other  legal  documents.  Commerce  is  hav- 
ing its  eyes  opened,  and  is  employing  shorthand  writers  to 
take  dictations  of  letters  and  other  business  matters  which 
are  written.  Sometimes  seventy  letters  in  a  day  are  dic- 
tated to  a  shorthand  writer,  the  phonographic  notes  being 
all  the  copy  that  is  needed ;  thus  a  man  who  understands 
the  intricacies  of  important  business  can  talk  to  his  cus- 
tomers as  if  they  were  present;  and  a  young  man  or  a 
young  woman  just  out  of  school  can  take  these  dictations 
and  give  a  fair  copy  to  be  sent  by  post.  Thus  an  import- 
ant man  can  virtually  do  in  an  hour's  time  as  much  letter- 
writing  as  he  could  accomplish  by  working  hard  all  day. 
This  saves  his  time,  besides  making  the  letter  more  mellow 
and  fresh  than  a  hurried  business  man  can  afford  the  time 


How  TO  SAVE  CLEKGYMEI*.  159 

and  patience  to  make  it  with  his  own  hand.  Instead  of 
the  hard,  stereotyped  phrase,  "Yours  received,  contents 
noted,"  he  can,  through  a  reporter,  be  as  pliant,  polite,  and 
extended  in  his  communication  as  he  would  be  if  he  had 
only  three  letters  a  day  to  write.  It  may  be  affirmed  that 
literary  labor  in  general  might  be  lessened  three-fourtbs  or 
seventy-five  per  cent,  by  the  aid  of  shorthand  writers. 

HOW   TO    SAVE   CLERGYMEN. 

Clergymen  are  learning  that  having  read  and  imbued 
themselves  with  the  subject-matter  of  a  sermon,  one  can, 
some  bright  morning,  when  the  mind  is  strong,  sharp,  and 
vigorous,  dictate  a  sermon  in  the  quiet  of  his  study,  and 
do  as  much  in  an  hour  as  he  would  be  able  to  do  in  two  or 
three  days  of  hard  labor.  Having  thus  discharged  his 
mind  of  his  subject,  he  can  ride,  visit,  work  in  his  garden, 
recreate  or  rest,  and  thus  maintain  his  health,  and  do  a 
world  of  good  to  himself,  his  family,  and  his  parishioners. 
The  next  morning,  when  his  mind  is  again  clear  and  fresh, 
his  amanuensis  lays  before  him  a  fair  copy  of  his  yesterday 
morning's  dictation,  or  reads  it  to  him,  and  he  may  erase 
or  interline,  or,  having  his  amanuensis  at  hand,  he  can  add 
by  dictation  a  page  here  and  there,  to  round  out  the  sub- 
ject and  embellish  his  thought.  The  next  morning  a 
handsome  copy  of  his  amended  dictation  is  ready  for  use 
in  the  pulpit.  He  may  then  dictate  another  discourse,  and 
his  week's  labor,  so  far  as  the  drudgery  of  sermon-writing 
is  concerned,  is  done.  It  is  safe  to  .say  that  with  a  little 
practice  a  clergyman  could  do  in  one  day's  work  all  the 
labor  required  to  write  in  full  two  sermons ;  and  we  ven- 


160  THE  REPORTEK. 

ture  the  assertion  that  a  year's  practice  in  this  way  would 
place  a  man  in  such  relations  to  sermon-writing  that  he 
could  produce  results  better  by  fifty  per  cent,  than  would 
be  possible  in  the  weary,  nerve-wearing  process  of  long- 
hand writing.  When  the  mind  is  on  fire  with  a  theme, 
how  it  burns  out  the  life  to  hold  that  burning  thought  till 
the  slow  hand  can  copy  it !  It  is  this  that  kills  the  ser- 
mon-writer. If  the  hot  thought  could  be  uttered  as  it 
would  be  in  extemporaneous  discourse,  and  the  nimble  fin- 
gers of  the  amanuensis  could  receive  it  and  record  it,  and 
then  at  his  leisure  write  it  out,  the  minister  would  save  his 
health  with  which  to  back  up  talent,  and  do  double  the 
work,  and  acquire  twice  the  reputation,  and  live  use- 
fully twice  as  long,  as  by  the  old  method.  There  is  no 
more  reason  why  the  architect  of  a  poem,  an  oration,  or  a 
sermon  should  submit  to  the  tediousness  of  copying  out 
his  composition,  than  that  the  architect  of  a  bridge  or  a 
church  should  be  obliged,  after  the  plans  are  drawn,  to  do 
all  the  work  with  his  own  hands.  The  architect  sketches, 
while  the  laborers  execute,  and  thus  his  brain  furnishes 
work  for  a  hundred  hands. 

TALENTS    REQUIRED. 

Well,  what  oi  reporters  ?  the  talents  required,  and  the 
prospect  of  advancement  presented?  We  have  consid- 
ered already  the  value  of  reporting,  and  the  questions 
come  up,  what  talent  is  required  ?  what  culture  ?  and 
what  opening  is  made  for  success  and  achievement  to  the 
reporter  himself?  We  may  remark,  first,  that  the  more 
talent  and  culture  the  reporter  has,  the  better.  Charles 


EXPERIENCE  WITH  BEGINNERS.  161 

Dickens  was  a  reporter  for  a  newspaper,  and  for  many 
years  had  his  seat  in  the  reporters'  gallery  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons.  Starting  with  excellent  ability  and 
witli  only  fair  scholastic  culture,  he  not  only  became  a 
capital  reporter,  but  grew  out  of  mere  reporting  to  be  one 
of  the  first  novel-writers  of  the  world.  He  won  fame  and 
fortune.  Fair  success,  however,  may  be  obtained  by  a 
young  man  of  average  ability  and  good  English  education. 
It  may  not  be  news  to  readers  to  say  that  some  sensible 
and  effective  speakers  are  not  good  scholars ;  their 
speeches  are  ungrammatical,  and,  in  this  respect,  need 
working  into  shape  by  the  reporter ;  therefore  he  should 
be  a  good  grammarian,  a  good  speller,  and  a  clear,  rapid 
penmen.  He  ought  to  have  an  excellent  memory,  so  as  to 
forget  nothing  he  learns.  He  should  have  large  percep- 
tive organs,  to  make  his  mind  quick  and  sharp.  He 
should  have  keen  hearing,  and  a  quick  eye,  and  a  wide- 
awake temperament — not  too  nervous — so  that  he  may  be 
on  the  alert  to  hear,  and  quick  of  hand  to  write. 

EXPERIENCE    WITH    BEGINNERS. 

In  the  Phrenological  Office  of  Fowler  &  Wells  the 
writer  has  trained  over  fifty  young  phonographers,  and, 
if  we  may  use  the  term,  they  have  graduated,  some  at 
the  end  of  one  year,  some  at  the  end  of  five,  from  that 
establishment,  competent  reporters  to  take  positions  in  the 
gallery  of  Congress,  in  courts,  State  Legislatures,  or  as 
amanuenses  for  clergymen,  lawyers,  physicians,  literary 
men,  generals,  or  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet,  or 
the  heads  of  State  departments.  At  one  time  the  United 


162  THE  REPORTER. 

States  Chief  Justice,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  besides  the  Governors  of  several 
States,  and  several  eminent  mercantile  firms,  employed 
reporters  who  commenced  with  us  or  have  been  employed 
by  us  at  some  time. 

It  gives  us  pleasure  also  to  mention  that  Mr.  T.  J.  Ellin- 
wood — the  reporter  of  Mr.  Beecher's  sermons,  a  task  most 
difficult,  yet  most  successfully  performed  by  him  continu- 
ously since  1858 — was  formerly  a  reporter  in  our  office ; 
and  another,  William  Anderson,  one  of  the  first  reporters 
in  New  York  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  connected  many 
years  with  one  of  the  leading  journals  of  New  York  as 
reporter;  Samuel  Barrow,  employed  by  the  Secretary  of 
State ;  Edward  Hayes,  in  the  Treasury  Department ;  Kollin 
Steward,  by  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina ;  George  W. 
Bishop,  with  an  eminent  law  firm,  as  a  general  law  report- 
er, in  New  York ;  Edmund  T.  Davis,  in  a  similar  capacity, 
commenced  with  us.  Some  of  the  students  have  studied 
for  other  professions,  using  reporting  as  a  channel  through 
which  to  enter  them.  One  is  a  clergyman ;  one  a  tutor  in 
the  law  school  at  Yale,  Prof.  Johnson  T.  Platt ;  another, 
C.  J.  Hambleton,  is  a  lawyer  in  Chicago ;  Sherburne  Burn- 
ham,  also  in  Chicago,  is  the  official  State  reporter ;  James 
Andem,  confidential  secretary  to  a  public  man,  and  Dr. 
Edwin  S.  Belden,  of  California,  began  with  us.  Two  are 
employed  in  insurance  offices  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  at  hand- 
some salaries ;  few  clergyman,  indeed,  are  better  paid,  even 
in  cities.  When  it  is  remembered  that  phonography  was 
the  door  through  which  all  these  young  men  have  secured 
position  and  success,  most  of  whom  started  with  us  at 


TIME  AND  STUDY  REQUIRED.  163 

small  salaries  because  they  -were  beginners,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  we  have  been  exceedingly  fortunate  in  the 
timber  we  have  had  to  deal  with,  and  that  phonography 
furnishes  not  only  an  excellent  profession  for  the  right  kind 
of  person,  but  that  it  is  a  stepping-stone  to  eminent  posi- 
tion. 

DESIRABLE    QUALITIES. 

To  be  a  good  phonographer,  there  are  required  in  the 
person  close  attention,  quickness  of  apprehension,  faithful- 
ness, integrity,  rapidity,  and,  as  we  have  said,  a  fair  edu- 
cation. If  a  reporter  be  favored  with  high  culture,  brill- 
iant talent,  and  constitutional  vigor,  he  may  ultimately 
become  in  legislation  or  law  a  speech-maker  instead  of  a 
speech-reporter. 

It  is  rather  remarkable  that  so  many  of  the  young  men 
who  have  gone  out  from  us  into  the  various  exciting  posi- 
tions of  reportorial  life  have  been  so  correct  in  their  habits, 
so  upright  in  morals,  as  to  become  an  honor  to  their  friends 
and  to  those  who  have  been  instrumental  in  their  entrance 
upon  public  life.  With  scarce  an  exception,  we  could  men- 
tion the  names  of  all  our  reporters  with  pleasure,  pride, 
and  affection.  They  have  done  nobly;  they  have  suc- 
ceeded admirably ;  they  are  reaping  their  reward. 

TIME    AND    STUDY    REQUIRED. 

It  may  be  asked,  How  long  a  time,  and  how  much  study 
is  required  for  a  person  of  the  right  talent  to  become  a 
reporter  ?  We  think  two  hours  a  day  for  one  year,  with 
perhaps  ten  dollars'  worth  of  instruction,  would  qualify  a 
man  to  begin  with  a  salary  sufficient  to  support  him  in  a 


164  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

plain,  temperate  way.  Once  started,  time  and  practice  will 
do  the  rest,  and  he  will  rise  with  a  rapidity  proportioned 
to  his  skill.  It  is  a  better  business  than  teaching,  so  far  as 
pay  is  concerned ;  and  with  the  same  culture  to  start  with, 
it  opens  a  far  wider  field  for  mental  growth  and  manly 
development. 

THE    PHYSICIAN. 

PHYSICAL    QUALITIES. 

The  physician  should  be  endowed  with  an  harmonious 
organization,  and  good  health.  He  should  have  an  ample 
Vital  temperament,  so  that  he  can  replenish  rapidly  and 
abundantly  the  waste  and  wear  of  his  system.  Moreover, 
this  temperament  gives  cheerfulness,  ardor,  joyousness,  and 
magnetic  cordiality,  which  carries  sunshine  everywhere; 
and  the  physician  should  have  an  abundance  of  this  to 
carry  with  him  into  the  sick-room. 

This  temperament  gives  plumpness  and  a  slight  tend- 
ency to  fleshiness;  a  deep  chest  with  copious  breathing 
power;  it  gives  a  rapid  and  abundant  circulation,  and 
makes  a  man  hearty,  zealous,  and  slightly  enthusiastic. 
He  should  have  an  ample  amount  also  of  the  Motive  tem- 
perament. This  is  indicated,  when  in  predominance,  by  a 
strong  frame,  prominent  features,  strong  hair,  and  rather 
dark  complexion.  He  should  also  have  the  Mental  tem- 
perament in  a  pretty  strong  measure.  This  gives  an 
active  mind,  a  studious  disposition,  love  for  knowledge, 
and  an  investigating,  fact-gathering,  philosophical,  and 
inventive  cast  of  mind.  It  is  indicated  by  a  clear,  sharp 


UNHAKMONIOUS  DEVELOPMENT.          165 

eye,  well-defined  but  somewhat  delicate  features,  fine  hair 
and  skin,  with  comparatively  light  bones  and  muscles, 
large  brain,  and  general  sprightliness  and  activity  of  body, 
and  an  abundance  of  sensitiveness  and  susceptibility. 
When  these  temperaments  are  possessed  in  harmonious 
blending ;  when  each  is  about  equally  represented  in  the 
man,  there  will  be  a  good  frame,  with  strength  not 
amounting  to  coarseness;  there  will  be  fullness  of  form 
without  grossness ;  there  will  be  refinement  without  effem- 
inacy; and  general  strength,  earnestness,  health,  endur- 
ance, and  the  basis  of  long  life.;  in  short,  a  well-organized 
man,  like  a  piano  with  all  the  strings  in  tune,  and  the 
higher,  lower,  and  middle  octaves  in  comprehensive  and 
harmonious  relationship. 

UNHARMONIOUS    DEVELOPMENT. 

The  life  of  a  physician  is  one  of  care,  fatigue,  patience, 
perseverance,  and  self-denial.  Hence  he  needs  a  tempera- 
ment that  lies  at  the  basis  of  and  tending  to  develop  all 
these  qualities.  If  a  man  has  an  excess  of  the  nervous 
or  Mental  temperament,  he  will  become  easily  worn  and 
anxious,  irritable,  erratic,  and  unhappy ;  and  he  will  carry 
to  the  sick-room  qualities  and  conditions  which  will  make 
the  poor  invalid  feel,  not  calm  and  comfortable,  but  anx- 
ious and  excited.  He  will  resemble  a  piano  with  only  the 
higher  octaves.  If  one  has  too  much  of  the  Motive  tem- 
perament, with  hard  hair  and  rough  features,  there  will  be 
a  lack  of  gentleness,  refinement,  and  taste,  so  that  the 
Bick,  especially  the  nervous  and  delicate,  will  be  unfavor- 
ably affected  by  his  presence.  He  will  be  like  a  piano 


166  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

with  only  the  lower  two  octaves.  If  one  has  too  much 
of  the  Vital  temperament,  there  will  be  a  lack  of  studious- 
ness,  a  tendency  to  over-eat  and  live  too  highly,  and  there- 
by produce  a  muddy  state  of  mind,  an  obtuse  intellect  and 
judgment,  and  a  sort  of  grossness  and  vulgarity  which  will 
not  be  agreeable  to  persons  of  refinement  and  culture. 
He  will  be  like  a  piano  containing  only  the  middle  octaves, 
incapable  of  anything  but  monotonous  mediocre  perform- 
ance. 

OFFENSIVE    CHARACTERISTICS. 

Nothing  is  more  unfortunate  to  the  profession  of  medi- 
cine than  qualities,  constitutional  or  acquired,  in  the  physi- 
cian, which  make  him  ill  adapted  to  meet  humanity  in  its 
more  sensitive  and  delicate  phases  pleasantly.  The  phy- 
sician should  not,  certainly  in  his  own  person,  be  offensive, 
yet  he  should  have  a  world  of  strength ;  should  be  hearty, 
cheerful,  able  to  bear  his  own  burdens  and  sorrows,  and 
have  sunshine  and  joy  enough  left  for  a  dozen  sick-rooms. 
The  physician,  then,  should  be  so  organized,  mentally  and 
physically,  as  not  to  be  repulsive  to  the  refined,  from 
grossness  or  coarseness,  yet  he  should  have  strength 
enough  to  minister  strength  to  the  depressed  and  weak. 
It  short,  no  man  needs  a  better  constitution  or  a  more  har- 
monious development  than  the  physician,  and  the  more 
nearly  perfection  a  man  is  in  organization,  the  better  he  is 
qualified  to  be  an  acceptable  and  successful  physician. 

DESIRABLE   TRAITS. 

We  come  now  to  the  inquiry  as  to  his  mental  peculiari- 
ties, and  we  might,  in  general,  answer,  that  perfect  har- 


MEMORY.  167 

mony  and  a  strong  development  of  all  the  mental  qualities 
would  be  highly  advisable  in  a  physician;  but  as  most 
men  are  not  thus  favorably  organized,  we  specify  some 
of  the  indispensable  elements,  with  the  reasons  therefor. 

In  the  first  place,  a  physician  needs  a  world  of  knowl- 
edge of  a  practical  character.  He  should  understand 
chemistry,  botany,  mineralogy,  physiology,  anatomy,  and 
last,  and  above  all,  pathology.  These  sciences  require 
in  the  student  an  ample  development  across  the  lower  part 
of  the  forehead,  viz.,  large  perceptive  organs.  We  have 
never  known  a  successful  physician  with  small  perceptive 
organs,  though  such  a  man  might  be  a  successful  planner 
of  theoretical  business,  such  as  banking,  and  certain  phases 

of  commerce. 

MEMORY. 

Secondly — The  physician  should  have  a  large  develop- 
ment of  the  organs  which  give  memory ;  the  middle  part 
of  the  forehead  should  be  plump  and  full,  that  he  may 
hold,  as  it  were,  in  solution  ready  for  use,  all  the  knowl- 
edge he  acquires  from  books,  from  observation,  and  from 
experience.  There  is  no  other  profession  in  which  so 
much  scientific  matter  is  required  to  be  learned  and  kept 
fresh  in  the  memory  for  instant  use.  To  be  a  thorough 
anatomist  requires  the  study  of  a  lifetime.  Physiology 
lias  a  breadth  of  investigation  and  a  minuteness  of  detail 
sufficient  to  enlist  the  best  efforts  of  the  clearest  mind 
and  the  most  retentive  memory.  Chemistry  is  a  profession 
of  itself;  botany,  mineralogy,  and  pathology  demand 
careful  study  and  a  comprehensive  memory.  Then  the 
departments  of  therapeutics  and  surgery — each  of  which 


168  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

is  an  art  as  well  as  a  science  —  require  quick  powers 
of  observation,  sharp  criticism,  and  ingenuity.  If  the 
medical  student  can  study  both  ancient  and  modern  clas- 
sics, he  will  find  ample  use  for  them,  and  it  will  not  seem 
extravagant  to  assert  the  need  in  the  physician's  mental 
development  of  a  first-class  mind  and  thorough  culture. 
The  medical  profession  is  no  place  for  a  stupid  mind  or  a 
careless  disposition. 

REASONING   POWER. 

Thirdly — His  reasoning  organs,  located  across  the  up- 
per part  of  the  forehead,  especially  Comparison,  should  be 
amply  developed,  so  that  he  can  analyze,  discriminate,  and 
comprehend  the  philosophy  of  the  causes  involved  in  a 
given  case ;  the  patient's  peculiar  temperament,  and  other 
conditions  and  circumstances  differing  from  anything  he 
has  seen  before.  Hence  he  must  understand  the  philos- 
ophy involved  in  the  facts.  If  he  have  only  large  per- 
ceptives,  he  will  be  very  likely  to  apply  former  treatment 
of  other  patients  whose  conditions  and  circumstances  were 
different,  and  thus  fail  of  success.  We  have  known  some 
physicians  who  were  excellent  in  counsel,  but  who  were 
not  successful  in  their  own  practice.  Such  had  a  large 
upper  forehead,  were  theorists,  were  reasoners,  but  failed 
in  observing  the  symptoms,  conditions,  and  peculiarities 
of  patients.  They  needed  some  other  physician  to  ob- 
serve the  case  and  collate  the  facts,  and  when  these  were 
presented,  the  philosophical  physician  could  make  infer- 
ences and  give  sound  advice.  If  the  developments  of  the 
fact-gatherer  and  the  philosopher  could  have  been  com- 


DECISION,  SELF-RELIANCE.  169 

bined  in  one  man,  he  would  have  been  competent  to  do 
the  work  of  both,  and  would  incline  to  seek  counsel  of 
none. 

THE    SOCIAL   AFFECTIONS. 

Fourthly — The  physician  should  have  strong  social 
feeling ;  the  backhead  should  be  amply  developed,  so  that 
all  the  relations  of  social  life  may  be  appreciated  by  him. 
He  should  love  children,  and  be  able  when  he  comes  into 
a  family  to  gain  their  confidence  and  win  their  attention 
and  affection.  No  man,  even  with  extra  talent,  can  win 
his  way  as  a  physician  who  can  not  make  cordial  and  last- 
ing friends  of  his  patients.  The  physician  must  be  trusted, 
confided  in,  and  relied  upon  in  the  most  important  and 
delicate  relations,  and  if  he  can  not  be  loved  as  a  friend 
and  trusted  as  a  brother,  his  power  for  usefulness  and  suc- 
cess will  be  very  limited. 

DECISION,   SELF-RELIANCE. 

Fifthly — The  physician  should  be  a  man  of  decision  and 
self-reliance ;  his  Firmness  should  be  large,  and  his  Self- 
Esteem  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  assume  responsibility  and 
not  feel  burdened  by  it.  He  should  feel  that  he  knows, 
and  that  his  decisions  are  sound ;  then  he  will  act  promptly 
and  calmly,  with  an  unclouded  judgment.  If  he  lack 
self-reliance,  he  will  always  be  timid,  doubtful,  and  uncer- 
tain ;  will  incline  to  try  experiments  and  feel  his  way,  and 
thus,  while  trying  to  become  assured  as  to  the  propriety 
of  his  course,  his  patient  may  slip  through  his  fingers. 
Thus  many  a  man  who  really  knows,  yet  has  his  doubts, 
will  fail  of  success,  whereas  if  he  had  self-reliance, 


170  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

thoroughness,  and  stamina  equal  to  his  knowledge,  he 
would  bravely  assume  the  responsibility,  adopt  promptly 
the  proper  course,  and  succeed,  to  his  credit  and  the  joy 
of  all  concerned. 

FORCE,    COURAGE. 

Sixthly — The  physician  should  have  Combativeness  and 
Destructiveness  well  developed.  These  give  courage  and 
efficiency ;  enable  a  man  bravely  to  witness  pain  and  suf- 
fering, and  employ  the  means  necessary  to  relieve,  though 
amputation  or  other  severe  surgical  operations  should  be 
required.  It  has  been  said  that  a  physician  needs  a  lion's 
heart  and  a  woman's  hand;  in  other  words,  he  should 
have  Combativeness,  Destructiveness,  Firmness,  and  Self- 
Esteem  on  the  one  hand  to  give  lion-like  stamina  and 
power — with  Ideality,  Constructiveness,  quick  perception, 
sympathy,  affection,  and  the  gentleness  which  comes  from 
refinement  of  temperament,  to  impart  that  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  term  "  woman's  hand."  We  have  seen 
men  who  had  power,  vim,  self-reliance,  and  persistency, 
who  carried  these  forces  with  gentleness  and  admirable 
self-control. 

PRUDENCE,    DISCREETNESS. 

Seventhly — The  physician  should  have  prudence,  cir- 
cumspection, policy,  caution,  and  Secretiveness,  with  good 
common  sense.  Cautiousness  will  give  him  such  prudence 
as  the  nature  of  his  business  demands ;  will  obviate  rash- 
ness ;  will  make  him  anxious  to  do  nothing  wrong,  and  to 
do  everything  in  the  right  way  and  in  the  right  time. 
Large  Secretiveness  will  enable  him  to  keep  his  mouth 
shut  at  the  proper  time,  and  avoid  gossiping  relative  to 


MECHANICAL  INGENUITY.  171 

patients  or  respecting  his  success ;  but  especially  does  he 
want  Seeretiveness,  to  control  his  countenance  as  well  as 
his  expressions.  If  a  physician  see  that  a  patient  is  sink- 
ing, and  show  it  in  his  face  and  actions,  the  patient  will 
be  discouraged,  the  family  alarmed;  and  one  that  by 
prudence,  self-possession,  and  skill  might  be  saved  is  thus 
hurried  to  the  grave.  But  he  who,  seeing  that  the  patient 
is  becoming  worse,  yet  hoping  for  a  favorable  turn,  can 
put  on  a  smiling  face,  with  a  happy  good-morning,  in  a 
musical  voice ;  he  who  can  speak  words  of  encouragement 
though  he  has  to  strain  a  point  to  do  it,  can  frequently  so 
inspire  and  magnetize  the  patient  as  to  carry  him  over 
"  the  dead  point,"  as  engineers  say.  A  sad,  sober,  solemn, 
gaunt,  hungry-looking  doctor  will  often  lose  a  patient  who 
would  be  saved  by  one  of  the  joyous,  hopeful,  mirthful, 
cheerful  men. 

HOPE,  AVIT. 

Eighthly — The  physician  should  have  large  Hope  and 
Mirthf illness  and  excellent  talking  talent,  so  that  people 
who  have  the  blues,  who  are  sad  and  desolate,  nervous  and 
dyspeptical,  may  be  cheered  and  comforted  by  his  hopeful, 
lively  manners  and  his  witty  remarks.  Many  a  suffering 
patient  has  been  saved  from  death  by  a  good  hearty  laugh  ; 
and  many  a  man  by  having  his  weakened  Hope  cordially 
inspired  by  a  cheerful  and  hopeful  physician  has  been  sus- 
tained by  it  until  nature  could  work  a  cure. 

MECHANICAL    INGENUITY. 

Ninthly — Large  Constructiveness  is  necessary  to  a  sur- 
geon, and  also  to  a  physician,  that  he  may  understand  the 


172  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

anatomy  and  working  of  the  physical  machinery  and  the 
combinations  that  are  involved  in  organization.  We 
would  recommend  no  man  to  become  a  physician  who  has 
not  excellent  mechanical  judgment  and  ingenuity;  for 
those  who  have  graduated  from  a  medical  school,  whether 
well  endowed  with  mechanical  talent  or  not,  are  liable  to 
be  called  upon  to  perform  important  surgical  operations ; 
and  woe  to  the  unfortunate  patient  who  falls  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  these  bunglers !  The  twisted  feet,  the 
shortened  limbs,  the  crooked,  badly-built-up  frames  which 
we  have  witnessed  are  sad  commentaries  on  the  deficiencies 
of  surgeons  who  lack  mechanical  ingenuity.  Surgery  of  late 
years  is  becoming  a  specialty,  one  or  two  men  doing  nearly 
all  the  important  surgical  business  of  a  large  city.  Those 
are  men  of  nerve  and  power,  with  prominent  mechanical 
talent ;  they  should  be  just  as  good  in  an  ordinary  sick- 
room as  they  are  in  the  operating-room ;  but  the  awkward- 
ness of  eight-tenths  of  their  brethren  throws  all  the  surgery 
into  their  hands,  and  they  come  at  last  to  do  nothing  else. 

MORAL    CHARACTER. 

Tenthly — A  physician  should  have  strong  moral  senti- 
ments. He  should  be  conscientious,  truthful,  and  just. 
When  people  begin  to  suspect  the  integrity  of  the  medical 
adviser,  his  influence  for  good  is  seriously  impaired.  He 
should  have  large  Benevolence,  to  give  him  that  genial 
and  broad  generosity  which  one  needs  who  is  to  deal  with 
the  sick  and  nervous,  the  wayward  and  the  wicked.  Con- 
scientiousness and  Benevolence  combined,  would  lead  a 
physician  to  give  instruction,  especially  to  the  poor,  how 


SELFISHNESS  OP  PATIENTS.  173 

to  live  so  as  to  maintain  health  and  avoid  sickness.  In 
fact,  a  physician  ought  to  be  paid  a  regular  salary  or 
yearly  sum,  on  condition  of  maintaining  the  health  of  the 
family,  and  when  one  member  of  the  family  is  sick,  the 
pay  should  cease ;  then  the  physician  would  often  call  and 
look  after  the  condition  of  the  members  of  the  family  and 
give  them  warning  and  advice  while  yet  disease  was  only 
incipient,  and  thus  keep  them  well,  instead  of,  as  at  pres- 
ent, waiting  till  the  patient  was  half-dead,  and  then  being 
sent  for  in  haste  to  barricade  their  pathway  to  the  grave. 

SELFISHNESS    OF   PATIENTS. 

Selfishness  and  the  fear  of  a  doctor's  bill  lead  persons  to 
avoid  sending  for  a  physician  till  the  patient  becomes  very 
sick,  whereas  he  should  be  called  as  soon  as  there  is  any 
appearance  of  illness,  and  a  little  advice  as  to  sleeping,  eat- 
ing, working,  and  bathing  might  save  the  patient ;  and  a 
fee  of  a  dollar  or  two  would  compensate  the  physician,  in- 
stead of  a  hundred  dollars  for  attending  a  long  siege  of 
sickness.  This  selfishness  on  the  part  of  a  community 
tends  to  make  a  doctor  selfish.  He  may  see  the  bilious 
encroachment  upon  the  face  of  the  patient;  he  may  be 
aware  that  wrong  living  and  bad  habits  are  prostrating  a 
strong  man ;  he  may  know  that  in  a  week  or  two  he  will 
have  him  in  his  care  with  a  large  bill  as  the  result,  if  haply 
he  can  succeed  in  keeping  him  away  from  the  undertaker ; 
but  he  is  silent ;  he  waits  for  his  opportunity ;  whereas  if 
it  were  otherwise,  if  the  physician  were  paid  for  keeping 
the  man  well,  a  word  might  save  the  patient  a  broken  con- 
stitution, a  month's  time,  and  a  large  sum  of  money. 


174  THE  PHYSICIAN. 

RELIGIOUS   CHARACTER. 

Finally — The  physician  should  have  large  Veneration 
and  Spirituality ;  should  feel  that  there  is  a  relation 
between  this  life  and  the  next.  The  studies  of  the  physi- 
cian are  apt  to  lead  to  materialism.  Dealing  solely  with 
the  body  and  its  functions,  physicians  come  to  deify  their 
profession,  and  to  think  they  know  all  there  is  of  the 
human  being.  An  active  Spirituality  and  reverence  will 
lead  the  physician  to  feel  that  there  is  something  to  the 
human  being  besides  the  body — something  that  lives  with- 
out material  organs,  and  thus,  acting  on  his  patient,  by 
keeping  up  the  strength  of  his  spiritual  nature,  it  will  in- 
spire the  body,  and  thereby  he  will  be  able  to  save  it. 
We  always  regret  to  witness  a  cold  materialism  in  a  phy- 
sician. We  have  often  thought  that  the  profession  of  the 
minister  and  the  physician  should  be  combined.  "  Hope 
deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick,"  and  a  spirit  laboring 
under  blasted  anticipations  may  leave  the  frame  unsus- 
tained,  and  the  patient  will  sink.  Job  said  in  his  deep 
affliction,  when  smitten  with  sore  boils  from  the  crown  of 
his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet,  "  Though  He  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  Him;"  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 
and  that  I  shall  see  him  for  myself,  and  not  for  another." 
Such  a  spirit  in  a  man  inspires  him  with  all  that  belongs  to 
or  serve  to  invigorate  life,  and  gives  him  fortitude  to  rise 
above  even  disaster;  and  the  physician  who  can  awaken 
such  a  spirit  in  his  patient  will  greatly  lessen  the  bills  of 
mortality. 

WOMAN   AS   PHYSICIAN. 

We  have  hitherto  spoken  of  the  physician  in  the  mascu- 


THE  LEGAL  PKOFESSION.  175 

line  gender,  but  we  take  pleasure  in  asserting,  the  convic- 
tion that,  with  similar  temperament  and  mental  character- 
istics, woman  is  quite  as  well  qualified  for  general  practice 
as  man ;  and  in  a  large  class  of  cases,  for  various  collat- 
eral reasons,  she  is,  far  better  than  man,  calculated  to  win 
the  confidence  of  patients  and  secure  success  in  practice. 
Among  young  and  delicate  ladies  many  will  suffer  for 
years  in  silence,  who  might  be  restored  in  a  month,  rather 
than  be  subjected  to  necessary  treatment  by  a  male  physi- 
cian. For  the  treatment  of  women  and  children,  there- 
fore, woman  wrho  is  in  culture  and  other  respects  equal,  is 
better  calculated  than  man  to  be  a  physician.  Therefore 
we  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  of  the  Female  Medical  Col- 
leges, and  the  deserved  success  of  not  a  few  of  their 
graduates. 


THE    LEGAL    PROFESSION. 

"  I  would  be  a  lawyer ! "  Do  you  know  how  much  you 
propose  to  yourself?  Can  you  master  the  knowledge 
which  the  legal  profession  requires  ?  Have  you  the  cour- 
age to  meet  the  opposition  which  is  incident  to  that  pro- 
fession ?  With  half  a  dozen  well-paid  opponents  ambitious 
to  triumph,  eager  to  succeed,  unscrupulous  it  may  be,  pug- 
nacious and  artful,  can  you  meet  them  all  ?  Will  you  wince 
before  their  combined  battery  of  mental  and  magnetic 
force  ?  or  have  you  the  strength  to  stand  in  the  presence 
of  such  men  erect,  serene,  self-poised,  and  independent? 
Have  you  the  talent  to  meet  their  arguments  ?  Have  you 
the  memory  to  hold  the  knowledge  required  ?  Have  you 


176  THE  LEGAL  PROFESSION. 

the  quick  perception  to  seize  upon  facts  ana  appropriate 
them  to  your  use  on  the  instant  ?  Have  you  the  breadth 
of  thought,  the  philosophic  capability  to  understand  the 
principles  of  law  which  will  enable  you  to  comprehend  the 
arguments  of  others  and  meet  them  successfully  ?  Have 
you  the  fluency  of  speech  which  will  enable  you  to  express 
your  knowledge,  your  feelings,  and  your  arguments  with 
facility  and  point  ?  Do  you  read  the  human  mind  clearly 
and  readily,  so  as  to  understand  a  jury,  a  witness,  or  an 
opposing  attorney?  Have  you  the  prudence  and  the  con- 
secutive patience  to  wade  through  volumes  of  law  reports 
and  legal  enactments  to  ascertain  precisely  what  the  law 
is  in  a  given  case  ?  It  will  not  do  to  be  rash  and  form 
hasty  judgments ;  because  your  reputation  and  your  suc- 
cess, and  the  life,  liberty,  or  property  of  your  client  may 
be  at  stake !  Have  you  such  a  balance  .of  all  the  qualities 
that  you  can  appeal  to  every  feeling,  social,  moral,  and 
sympathetical,  in  the  judge,  jury,  and  audience  ?  Are  you 
equal  to  the  ablest  class  of  men  ?  Have  you  the  learning 
which  will  enable  you  to  stand  unabashed  among  the 
learned  ? 

HEALTH    AND    CONSTITUTION. 

Have  you  the  health  that  will  enable  you  to  work  six 
days  in  succession,  battling  every  point  and  struggling 
against  wily  and  earnest  opposition  at  every  step  ?  and 
then,  when  every  ear  is  open  and  every  eye  fastened  upon 
you,  will  you  have  constitution  enough  left  to  make  such 
a  speech  as  the  case  shall  demand  and  as  your  ambition 
and  reputation  will  require  ?  Have  you  enough  of  Con- 
scientiousness to  meet  all  manner  of  temptation  success- 


How  TO  LEAKN  THE  LAW.  177 

fully,  to  judge  of  the  right,  the  true,  and  follow  it  ?  If 
you  have  all  these  qualifications,  BE  A  LAWYER,  and  you 
will  be  a  good  one.  Or,  are  you  dyspeptical,  nervous, 
slender  ?  and  would  a  week's  work,  or  half  a  week's  work, 
wear  you  out  so  that  you  would  be  like  an  empty  sack 
when  you  were  expected  to  be  eloquent  and  strong  and 
clear  in  your  final  effort  in  summing  up  a  case  ? 

HOW   TO    LEARN   THE    LAW. 

The  most  approved  method  of  obtaining  a  practical 
knowledge  of  legal  science  is  by  attending  the  prescribed 
sessions  of  a  good  law  school.  A  young  man  may  read 
law  in  an  office — in  accordance  with  the  old  custom — but 
he  will  waste  a  great  deal  of  time  over  that  which  may 
never  be  of  use  to  him,  to  say  nothing  of  the  confusion  of 
ideas  resulting  from  much  reading.  At  a  law  school  chief 
attention  is  given  by  the  faculty  to  those  subjects  which 
will  be  of  immediate  interest  to  the  student  when  he  com- 
mences to  practice.  The  writings  of  the  leading  jurists 
of  ancient  arid  modern  times  are  analyzed  and  digested, 
and  what  there  is  of  value  in  them  to  the  attorney  and 
counselor  is  clearly  pointed  out.  Sham  trials  or  "moot 
courts  "  are  held,  in  which  the  student  is  required  to  take 
part  and  illustrate,  as  far  as  may  be,  his  legal  acquire- 
ments in  the  examination  of  witnesses,  the  discussion  of 
points  of  law,  the  address  to  the  jury,  and  the  conduct  gen- 
erally of  causes  of  litigation.  Thus  the  student  is  prepared 
for  the  actual  business  of  his  chosen  profession  in  the 
most  practical  manner  possible. 

After  taking  the  degree  of  the  institute,  the  student 
8* 


178  THE  LEGAL  PKOFESSION. 

should  either  commence  practice  or  enter  the  office  of 
some  experienced  advocate,  and  there  continue  his  studies 
with  all  the  advantages  of  direct  practice  surrounding 
him.  We  think  that  it  is  better  for  a  student  to  read  a 
few  of  the  elementary  books  before  entering  a  law  school. 
Students  at  law  usually  read  in  the  outset  Blackstone's 
Commentaries,  Kent's  Commentaries,  Story  on  the  Con- 
stitution, Story  on  Bailments,  Parsons  on  Contracts,  Green- 
leaf  on  Evidence,  and  other  works,  including,  of  course, 
the  Code  of  Procedure  for  the  State  in  which  it  is  in- 
tended to  settle.  The  attentive  perusal  of  the  works 
named  will  furnish  a  very  substantial  foundation  for  a 
young  lawyer's  future  career.  One  does  not  practice  law 
in  the  United  States  Courts  until  after  serving  some  years 
at  the  bar  of  his  State.  Those  who  are  admitted  to  the 
national  courts  are  usually  men  in  advanced  practice,  and 
we  suppose  that  most  lawyers  look  forward  with  ambition 
to  the  time  when  they  shall  be  able  to  practice  in  Admi- 
ralty. We  believe  that  a  lawyer  secures  his  entrance  be- 
fore the  bar  of  the  nation  by  special  nomination,  and 
through  the  approval  of  the  justices  of  the  United  States 
Court. 

TRUE   LAWYER   AND    STATESMAN. 

The  true  lawyer,  in  our  judgment,  is  the  man  of  emi- 
nent ability  with  a  splendid  body,  an  harmonious  tempera- 
ment, a  large  brain  well  cultivated  and  well  balanced,  so 
that  he  will  not  fail  in  morality,  courage,  prudence,  policy, 
perception,  memory,  judgment,  or  in  financial  matters.  A 
lawyer  with  the  right  development  for  comprehending  all 
the  duties  that  belong  to  his  profession,  with  eloquence  of 


THE  PKOFESSIOI* — How  DEGKADED.       179 

speech  to  set  it  forth,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  among 
the  first  of  men.  Such  a  man  may  be  a  legislator,  a  states- 
man. 

There  are  men  who  are  useful  in  legislation  who  have 
not  these  brilliant  qualities,  but  who  are  simply  financiers, 
workers,  dry,  hard  thinkers,  capable  of  following  out  the 
details  of  practical  business ;  but  the  real  legislator  is  one 
who  can  comprehend  constitutions  and  laws,  who  under- 
stands society  and  its  wants,  who  appreciates  all  that  be- 
longs to  human  life  in  its  highest  and  lowest  phases,  and 
has  an  eloquent  tongue  to  impress  others  with  the  truth- 
fulness and  importance  of  his  views,  and  thus  mold  legis- 
lation and  elevate,  enlighten,  and  guide  public  sentiment.  • 
Such  a  man  is  the  true  statesman. 

THE  PROFESSION,  HOW  DEGRADED. 

It  is  thought  by  many  that  the  lawyer  needs  only  tact, 
keenness,  cunning,  assurance,  and  unscrupulousness,  and, 
doubtless,  not  a  few  members  of  the  profession  have  given 
just  occasion  for  such  a  judgment. 

The  practice  of  law  has  been  sadly  perverted.  The 
erroneous  sentiment,  so  widely  entertained  and  practiced, 
that  a  lawyer  is  bound  to  promote  the  interests  and  wishes 
of  his  client,  even  in  the  wrong,  and  to  take  advantage  of 
every  opportunity  to  benefit  his  case  even  against  justice, 
has  degraded  the  profession,  and  the  worthy  and  unworthy 
alike  are  looked  upon  with  suspicion.  Even  men  of  emi- 
nent ability  and  culture,  with  prosperous  practice,  whose 
success  on  an  honorable  basis  should  raise  them  above 
temptation,  seem  to  have  been  carried  away  by  the  cur- 


180  THE  LEGAL  PKOFESSKOT. 

rent  of  corporation  corruption,  and  in  the  science  of  "  rings  " 
and  tricky  stock  jobbers,  awakening  a  praiseworthy  remon- 
strance against  it  from  the  better  portion  of  the  profession. 

Men  who  enter  the  legal  profession  without  the  natural 
gifts  and  mental  culture  requisite  for  honorable  success, 
and  being  pressed  by  want  to  obtain  practice  in  some  way, 
adopt  questionable  means  of  securing  business  as  well  as 
wrong  methods  of  conducting  it.  Such  men  become  "  shy- 
sters." By  giving  false  advice  to  dissolute  villains  or 
their  friends,  they  succeed  in  robbing  them  of  their  money 
by  charging  excessive  fees  in  advance,  and  then,  in  order 
to  succeed  with  their  indifferent  abilities  they  unscrupu- 
lously violate  the  principles  of  truth  and  justice.  Such 
disreputable  practices,  if  successful,  pass  with  many  peo- 
ple for  ability. 

The  Hon.  Nicholas  P.  Trist,  of  Virginia,  when  studying 
law,  inquired  of  Mr.  Jefferson  (whose  granddaughter  he 
afterward  married)  what  he  thought  "  would  be  the  pros- 
pects of  a  young  lawyer  who  should  start  with  the  fixed 
determination  never  to  say  or  do  anything  in  Court  or  in 
relation  to  legal  practice  which  he  did  not  think  was 
thoroughly  truthful  and  upright?"  The  venerable  ex- 
President,  with  flashing  eyes  and  glowing  countenance, 
instantly  sprang  to  his  feet  (the  party  being  at  Mr.  Jefferr 
son's  table  at  the  time)  and  replied,  "  Young  man,  if  you 
will  adopt  that  plan  and  follow  it  for  life,  you  will  obtain 
a  reputation  which  will  ring  around  the  world,  and  ulti- 
mately bring  you  ample  pecuniary  reward." 

The  writer  was  informed  by  a  lawyer  of  Springfield,  111., 
that  "  Mr.  Lincoln  would  not  take  a  case  unless  he  really 


THE  CLEEGYMAIS\  181 

thought  the  client  ought  to  win ;  and  it  came  to  be  under- 
stood by  court,  bar,  jury,  and  spectators,  that  when  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  brought  a  case,  that  his  client  was  in  the 
right  and  ought  to  obtain  a  verdict."  The  gentleman 
added,  "  I  do  not  say  this  from  political  favoritism,  for  in 
this  we  were  opposed,  but  simply  because  it  is  the  truth." 
The  true  lawyer  seeks  for  justice,  not  merely  for  victory, 
right  or  wrong ;  for  the  maintenance  of  truth,  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  right  according  to  law,  both  human  and 
divine.  If  the  profession  has  fallen  below  this  level,  it 
should  be  at  once  rectified  and  elevated,  so  that  pure, 
noble  young  men  may  enter  it  in  the  fear  of  God  and  in 
the  love  of  man. 


THE    CLERGYMAN. 

**  If  a  man  desire  the  office  of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work."— 1  Tim.  iii.  1. 

By  common  consent,  the  minister  of  religion  stands  first 
among  men ;  not  that  he  is  necessarily  a  better  man  than 
any  other,  but  because  his  vocation  takes  hold  of  the  high- 
est interests  of  humanity,  deals  with  the  better  part  of 
man's  being  and  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  race. 

The  vocation  of  the  farmer  covers  the  sphere  of  food  for 
the  body  and  the  raw  material  for  its  clothing.  The  noble 
horse,  the  patient  ox,  and  the  faithful  dog  receive  their 
food  at  the  same  hand  which  feeds  the  king,  namely,  the 
farmer.  Of  course  there  is  a  collateral  relation  between 
food  and  mind ;  between  all  the  higher  human  powers  and 
possibilities,  and  the  proper  nutrition  of  the  body  by  means 
of  food.  The  mechanic  ministers  mainly  to  the  wants  of 


182  THE  CLERGYMAN. 

the  body  as  they  relate  to  the  present  life.  Every  profes- 
sion that  has  for  its  field  of  effort  the  physical,  the  bodily, 
the  temporal,  must  take  a  rank  second  to  those  which  re- 
late to  mind  and  to  morals.  The  teacher  who  instructs 
the  young,  the  orator  who  leads  and  inspires  the  cultured 
mind  to  higher  aims  and  better  deeds,  ministers  to  some- 
thing above  that  which  wears  clothes  and  needs  a  tight 
roof  to  shelter  it. 

The  minister  of  religion  is  a  teacher  of  the  intellect  as 
well  as  of  the  affections,  though  his  patent  duty  is  to  lead 
the  soul  to  virtue  and  to  God.  With  such  a  function,  with 
such  an  aim,  what  manner  of  person  ought  he  to  be  "  in 
all  godliness  and  honesty  ?  "  One  who  has  a  just  estimate 
of  the  duties  and  relations  of  the  clergyman  might  well 
hesitate  and  say,  in  view  of  entering  upon  it,  "  Who  is  suf- 
ficient for  these  things  ?  " 

In  the  outset,  we  may  remark  that  a  minister  need 
not  be  perfect;  the  Apostles  were  not, — they  had  weak- 
nesses, frailties,  tendencies  to  wrong-doing,  liabilities  to 
temptation,  like  other  men.  Had  the  original  Apostles 
been  perfect,  had  they  been  endowed  with  genius  and 
almost  superhuman  virtue,  common  men  might  hesitate  in 
an  attempt  at  following  them;  but  they  were  simple- 
minded,  plain-hearted,  common  people,  in  the  main,  who 
commenced  their  labors  with  the  poor  and  for  the  poor ; 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, Paul,  there  was  little  to  commend  them  intellectually. 
Paul  was  evidently  chosen  to  his  great  work  because  he 
had  breadth  of  intellectual  power,  outreaching  strength  of 
thought,  and  the  high  attainments  of  learning  which  his 


HEALTH.  183 

large  culture  "  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel "  had  given  him,  so 
that  his  fellow-men  who  were  great  in  talent  and  eminent 
in  learning  might  find  in  him  an  equal  and  a  teacher. 

The  minister,  to  meet  the  wants  of  such  persons,  should 
be  equal  at  least  to  the  highest  and  best  in  his  congrega- 
tion ;  therefore  those  who  seek  the  sacerdotal  office  should 
"  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts ; "  and  it  may  be,  perhaps, 
justly  stated  that  a  man  should  not  consider  himself  called 
to  preach  unless  he  has  good,  clear  common  sense,  and  a 
full  share,  at  least,  of  native  moral  power.  Let  us  enumer- 
ate some  of  the  desirable  qualifications,  natural  and  ac- 
quired, of  the  clergyman. 

HEALTH. 

In  the  first  place  he  should  have  health.  The  theology 
and  moral  teaching  of  the  world  has  been  administered  by 
those  afflicted  with  dyspepsia  already  too  long.  Men 
called  to  that  office  have  honestly  supposed  that  they 
must  shut  themselves  up  from  all  sympathy  with  the  out- 
ward world,  and  that  they  must  walk  with  measured  step, 
speak  with  bated  breath,  and  move  with  unnatural  circum- 
spectio'n  under  their  "awful  responsibility;"  thus  they 
have  breathed  gently,  eaten  gently,  and  exercised  gently 
or  none  at  all,  until  their  breadth  and  strength  of  native 
constitution  have  been  dwindled,  dwarfed,  and  wrecked. 
Their  intellectual  culture  may  have  been  as  great  as  with 
a  constitution  so  treated  it  could  be,  but  lacking  bodily 
stamina,  their  teachings  are  dry  and  exclusive ;  there  is  no 
muscle,  no  brawn  in  their  utterances, — consequently  men 
of  muscle  and  brawn  are  not  reached  by  their  imbecile 


184  THE  CLERGYMAN. 

and  unmanly  ministration.  Such  hearers  ol  such  preach- 
ers are  led  to  think  that  a  religious  life  is  well  enough  for 
women,  children,  and  weak  men,  but  that  it  is  not  re- 
quired by  or  adapted  to  brave,  strong  men.  The  clergy- 
man should  have  health,  because  his  labors  are  severe. 
To  think  clearly  and  vigorously,  the  body  must  be  healthy 
and  ample.  The  most  eminent  men  have  bodies  as  well 
as  brains;  and  in  spite  of  the  half-contemptuous  fling 
which  goes  the  rounds  of  the  newspapers,  and  is  sneeringly 
lisped  by  bloodless  ministers  about 

"  MUSCULAR    CHRISTIANITY  " 

in  the  nineteenth  century,  it  has  a  hundred  times  more 
philosophy  in  it  than  most  men  believe.  When  we  look 
in  upon  clergymen  in  convention,  conference,  or  synod,  we 
observe  that  the  men  who  have  broad  shoulders  and  deep 
chests  are  the  ones  who  lead.  They  may  not  be  the  most 
learned,  but  they  have  the  bodily  power  that  gives  vitality 
to  enforce  what  they  know.  They  have  the  throbbing 
heart,  bounding  pulse,  and  earnest  energy  that  drives 
home  their  utteranc.es. 

Boys  in  school  and  elsewhere  pay  great  respedt  to  a 
good  bass  voice.  They  somehow  feel  that  behind  that 
bass  voice  there  is  power,  and  they  confess  it,  accept  it, 
and  yield  to  it,  without  it  being  exerted ;  so  the  orator 
whose  vitality  enables  him  to  express  his  glowing  thoughts 
with  power,  is  the  one  who  magnetizes  his  congregation 
and  carries  it  with  him. 

A  frail,  thin  man  might  read  a  robust  discourse  full  of 
power  and  sentiment ;  but  if  he  piped  it  with  a  cracked 


EKKONEOUS  PUBLIC  SENTIMENT.          185 

voice  and  evident  lack  of  stamina,  one-half  the  power  of  that 
discourse  would  be  lost.  We  do  not  forget  the  gentle 
and  eloquent  Channing.  The  fine  grain  and  weak  voice 
of  that  eminent  man  carried  refinement,  beauty,  and  elo- 
quence ;  but  the  thoughts  of  Channing,  if  they  could  have 
been  uttered  from  a  deep  fountain  of  vitality,  would  have 
been  more  widely  influential. 

ERRONEOUS   PUBLIC    SENTIMENT. 

Everybody  knows  the  duty  of  the  clergyman,  but  few 
know  his  trials.  He  is  a  man  of  serene  appearance  and 
decorous  conduct ;  is  generally  neatly  dressed,  highly  re- 
spected in  community,  and  to  the  casual  observer  is  being 

"  *  *  *  carried  to  the  skies, 
On  flowery  beds  of  ease." 

He  is  by  many  thought  to  have  an  easy  life ;  some  think 
he  has  chosen  that  profession  to  avoid  work,  and  that  he 
obtains  money  very  easily,  considering  the  smooth  and 
apparently  agreeable  life  he  leads. 

The  average  American  minister  finds  his  position  no 
sinecure.  The  education  necessary  to  attain  his  position, 
and  the  study  and  talent  required  to  fill  it  acceptably, 
would,  in  any  other  pursuit,  win  a  larger  reward  in  every 
worldly  sense. 

The  truly  devoted  minister,  who  rightly  considers  his 
high  commission,  labors  earnestly  not  only  to  instruct,  but 
to  counsel  and  guide  wayward  and  selfish  men  to  duty 
and  to  God.  All  he  has  of  talent,  culture,  or  influence  he 
willingly  devotes  to  his  work,  and  laying  largely  aside  his 
bodily  ease  and  comfort,  as  well  as  his  pecuniary  interest, 


186  THE  CLERGYMAN. 

he  feels  bound  to  serve  the  church  and  the  people  as  a 
duty  owed  to  God  and  his  conscience.  Such  labor  saps 
the  health  and  depresses  the  spirits.  Some  ministers 
preach  three  times  of  a  Sunday,  and  no  wonder  their 
Mondays  are  "  blue  " — that  the  mental  becomes  too  strong 
for  the  physical.  If  a  minister  undertakes  to  recreate  or 
rest,  some  people  will  call  him  lazy,  especially  those  who 
think  nothing  is  labor  but  that  which  is  bodily. 

There  are  in  the  United  States  about  sixty-one  thousand 
ministers  of  all  denominations.  Their  average  salary  per 
annum  is  computed  to  be  about  $700.  This  would  make 
$42,700,000  annually  paid  by  the  American  churches  in 
clergymen's  salaries.  If  we  assume  each  clergyman  to 
represent  three  persons,  a  wife  and  two  children,  making 
four  in  all,  we  have  then  244,000  persons  to  be  supported 
out  of  this  salary  fund,  and  this  gives  just  $175  to  each 
one.  The  average  salary  of  three-fourths  of  the  ministry 
is  less  than  $600,  and  this  very  materially  reduces  the. 
average  per  head  to  each  member  of  their  families.  In 
cities  and  large  villages  ministerial  salaries  generally  stand 
at  a  fair  rate  of  liberality,  especially  in  the  wealthier  con- 
gregations. Yet  this  class  represents  but  a  small  fraction 
of  the  whole.  When  taken  in  connection  with  the  whole, 
so  as  to  make  the  general  average,  we  have  about  $700 
for  each  minister,  or  $175  per  head  for  ministers'  families, 
on  the  basis  of  four  persons  to  each  family. 

BLUE   MONDAY. 

One  of  the  causes  of  blue  Monday  is  the  miserably  small 
salary  of  ministers.     The  corroding  anxiety  as  to  how  the 


BLUE  MONDAY.  187 

angel  of  respectability  may  be  kept  in  the  house  and  the 
wolf  of  want  away  from  the  door,  does  more  to  break 
down  the  health  of  ministers  and  their  families  than  all 
the  study  and  mental  labor  they  perform.  We  require 
ministers  to  live  in  good  houses,  dress  well,  entertain  com- 
pany genteelly  and  liberally,  and  blame  them  for  being 
worldly  and  selfish  if  they  work  or  traffic  to  increase  their 
income.  How  would  the  people  who  criticise  ministers 
and  their  wives  like  to  make  the  effort  to  feed,  clothe,  and 
educate  a  family  for  $175  a  year  for  each  member?  We 
think  the  most  of  them,  before  a  single  year  was  ended, 
would  be  led  to  exclaim, 

"  Dear  Lord !  and  shall  we  ever  live 
At  this  poor  dying  rate  ?  " 

The  "Shady  Side  of  a  Pastor's  Life,"  by  Mrs.  Hubbel, 
contains  a  world  of  truth ;  and  as  we  happen  to  know  the 
parishes  in  which  she  learned  the  "  Shady  Side,"  we  in- 
dorse the  practical  correctness  of  her  facts  and  inferences. 
Dr.  Lyman  Beechcr  had  an  iron  constitution,  inherited 
from  his  blacksmith  father,  which  he  maintained  by  sawing 
wood,  working  in  his  garden,  and  by  shoveling  sand  in  his 
cellar  on  Sundays  and  rainy  days,  to  keep  his  body  and 
brain  in  good  working  order.  A  good  deacon  of  his 
church  was  once  terribly  shocked  at  seeing  the  Doctor, 
with  his  coat  off,  shoveling  a  heap  of  sand  from  one  side 
of  the  cellar  to  the  other,  Sunday  noon  between  the  ser- 
vices. To  his  remonstrances  the  Doctor  replied,  "God 
knows  I  must  have  the  exercise,  and  my  people  would  be 
shocked  if  I  were  to  do  something  useful,  like  sawing 


188  THE  CLERGYMAN. 

wood,  so  I  pitch  this  sand  across  the  cellar  every  Sunday 
once  or  twice." 

If  ministers  worked  more  physically  they  would  think 
with  more  vigor  and  have  less  of  the  blues.  If  they  were 
.  paid  better  salaries  they  could  have  exercise  and  some 
release  from  nerve-shattering  anxiety  and  chagrin  incident 
to  poverty,  sick  wives,  and  the  vain  attempt  to  keep  up 
respectability  and  an  open  house  for  the  people  of  the 
parish  and  for  church  agents  and  missionaries  besides. 
Better  health  would  help  to  raise  them  above  despondency, 
and  more  greenbacks  would  save  them  from  the  blues. 

BAD    HABITS    OF    CLERGYMEN". 

The  clergyman  should  understand  physiology,  that  he 
may  know  how  to  take  care  of  his  health  and  learn  to  say 
ISTo !  when  the  kind-hearted  parishioner  urges  him  to  in- 
dulge in  cakes,  pies,  confections,  strong  tea,  coffee,  and 
other  delicacies,  as  he  is  making  his  parochial  visits.  One- 
half  the  illnesses  of  ministers,  even  of  those  who  gradu- 
ate from  the  theological  schools  healthy,  is  owing  to  the 
labored  writing  of  sermons,  and  the  high  living  incident 
to  the  pampering  spirit  of  fond  parishioners,  and  the  lack 
of  manly  exercise,  which,  by  public  sentiment,  seems  to  be 
denied  to  them.  Some  clergymen,  unfortunately,  use  alco- 
holic liquors,  to  the  damage  of  their  health  and  occasion- 
ally to  their  shame  and  the  scandal  of  the  church.  Nearly 
all  use  strong  coffee  and  tea ;  and  since  the  use  of  alcoholic 
stimulants  has  become  measurably  unpopular,  thousands 
of  ministers  have  adopted  the  use  of  tobacco  in  some  form, 
to  the  ruin  of  their  health,  the  utter  prostration  of  their 


PHRENOLOGICAL  ENDOWMENTS.  189 

nervous  systems  and  their  memory,  and  the  demoraliza- 
tion of  their  manliness. 

Shut  out  by  popular  opinion  from  the  invigorating 
labors  and  exercises  by  which  other  men  keep  themselves 
built  up,  many  clergymen  resort  to  some  stimulant  or  nar- 
cotic, with  the  delusive  idea  that  the  temporary  excitement 
is  a  source  of  strength  and  upbuilding.  The  result  is  dys- 
pepsia, nervousness,  throat  disease,  and  general  debility. 
Ministers  should  at  least  be  temperate  in  all  bodily  appe- 
tites. Lawyers,  physicians,  artists,  anybody,  may  play  a 
rousing  game  of  base-ball  or  quoits;  may  ride  rapidly; 
may  row  and  swim,  and  work  in  the  field ;  but  the  minis- 
ter must  wear  black  gloves,  polished  boots,  and  faultless 
linen,  and  prune  his  manners  down  to  prudery,  or  else  his 
ill-instructed  parishioners  will  criticise  him.  He  must  be 
too  stylish  to  be  natural,  and  too  gentle  to  be  healthy 
either  in  body  or  in  mind.  We  rejoice  that  the  traditional 
white  cravat  and  ministerial  garb  are  going  out  of  fashion, 
so  that  the  life  of  the  minister  is  becoming  more  natural. 

PHRENOLOGICAL   ENDOWMENTS. 

A  clergyman  should  have  a  large  brain  as  well  as  a  good 
body,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  sway  the  minds  of  the 
public.  He  should,  in  fact,  be  equal  to  the  ablest  man  in 
his  congregation,  so  that  none  shall  be  untaught,  none 
shall  be  unfed.  He  should  have  the  force  of  character 
which  comes  from  a  well-developed  base  of  brain.  When 
the  prophet  Nathan  preached  to  King  David,  it  required 
as  much  courage  to  say  "  Thou  art  the  man,"  as  it  would 
have  required  to  lead  an  army. 


190  THE  CLEKGYMAK. 

The  minister  should  have  enough  natural  courage  not  to 
be  afraid  to  look  men  in  the  face  and  speak  strongly  and 
plainly  to  them  of  their  sins.  He  should  also  have  the 
governing  powers,  namely,  Firmness,  Self-Esteem,  and 
Conscientiousness,  that  he  may  have  stability,  dignity,  and 
the  love  of  justice,  and  not  be  afraid  to  utter  his  moni- 
tions. He  should  have  a  judicious  and  manly  policy,  orig- 
inating in  Cautiousness  and  Secretiveness,  that  he  may  be 
prudent  in  action  and  speech.  A  babbling,  talkative,  gos- 
siping minister,  who  talks  to  one  parishioner  of  the  faults 
and  caprices  of  others,  is  unfortunate  to  say  the  least,  and 
thereby  makes  himself  contemptible  and  unsuccessful.  In 
the  administration  of  parochial  affairs  the  minister  needs 
great  prudence  and  circumspection  combined  with  sta- 
bility, dignity,  and  courage;  and  those  who  succeed  in 
maintaining  an  influential  position  in  the  same  parish  for  a 
lifetime  are  known  for  these  qualities. 

POWER  TO 'INSTRUCT. 

A  clergyman  should  be  "  apt  to  teach ; "  and  what  does 
this  mean  ?  It  has  three  elements  :  first,  good  perceptive 
power,  ability  to  see  everything,  and  appreciate  all  that  is 
seen.  He  should  see  in  the  very  grass  and  trees,  in  every 
insect  that  wings  the  air  or  creeps  upon  the  earth,  a  lesson 
of  industry,  of  beauty,  or  of  Divine  oversight.  He  should 
have  scientific  knowledge,  especially  physiological,  and 
these  perceptive  faculties,  properly  train  ell  in  every  direc- 
tion, would  double  the  power  of  the  minister.  He  should 
preach  health.  He  should  explain  laws  that  apply  to  the 
body  and  the  mind.  He  should  be  able  not  only  to  obey 


MEMORY.  191 

law  himself,  but  to  teach  the  public  how  to  eat  and  drink 
so  as  not  to  pervert  and  daily  desecrate  this  human  temple 
of  the  living  God. 

MEMORY. 

He  should  have  an  excellent  memory,  not  of  things  phys- 
ical and  material  only,  but  of  general  history,  of  incident?, 
of  the  facts  and  affairs  of  every-day  life,  as  well  as  of 
Biblical  history.  The  clergyman  who  can  remember  the 
given  name  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  his  congre- 
gation will  find  this  fact  an  open  door  to  their  affection 
and  friendship.  He  should  make  himself  acquainted 
largely  with  secular  matters.  He  may  be  familiar  with 
agriculture,  horticulture,  and  mechanism,  with  banking 
and  commerce,  with  mining  and  with  seamanship.  The 
Master  illustrated  moral  truth  by  the  vineyard,  the  wine- 
press, old  and  new  wine ;  with  navigation  and  fish-catch- 
ing; with  sowing  grain  and  reaping  the  harvest;  with 
bread-making,  the  parental  relation,  and  with  the  shep- 
herd's tender  care  of  his  flock. 

With  such  knowledge,  the  minister  can  exert  a  wonder- 
ful influence  upon  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  and  lead 
them  to  see  a  relation  between  the  life  that  now  is  and 
that  which  is  to  come.  They  will  thus  be  made  to  feel 
that  their  pastor  knows  what  they  know,  and  is  also  wise 
in  "  the  things  of  the  kingdom."  The  minister  should  un- 
derstand and  preach  God's  works  as  well  as  his  word,  and 
thereby  enlarge  the  faith  and  give  breadth  to  the  thoughts 
and  character  of  his  people.  He  should  evince  a  knowl- 
edge of  their  cares  and  business,  and  a  sympathy  with  all 
that  laudably  occupies  their  six  days'  labor.  He  should 


192  THE  CLEKGYMAN. 

show  that  religion  is  not  merely  a  Sunday  garment,  to  be 
laid  aside  at  its  close,  but  one  that  covers  the  whole  week, 
with  its  cares,  joys,  and  labors. 

PHILOSOPHICAL  TALENT. 

He  should,  moreover,  have  theoretical  or  reasoning 
power,  ability  to  grapple  the  causes  and  reasons  of  things, 
and  set  them  forth  with  clearness  and  power.  He  should 
be  a  philosopher  as  well  as  an  historian ;  and  if  endowed 
with  the  esthetical  faculties,  those  which  give  the  love  of 
poetry  and  romance,  of  beauty  and  refinement,  all  the  bet- 
ter ;  for  when  the  strong  argument  has  been  reared,  when 
the  great  walls  of  defense  against  sin  and  wickedness  have 
been  piled  in  grandeur  and  enduring  strength,  only  half 
the  faculties  have  been  gratified.  It  will  not  make  the 
walls  of  truth  any  the  weaker  for  having  the  vines  and 
flowers  of  beauty  thrown  over  their  ruggedness. 

HUMAN    NATURE. 

The  clergyman  should  understand  human  nature  clearly 
and  sharply ;  should  be  able  to  read  men  quickly  and  ac- 
curately, as  taught  by  Phrenology  and  cognate  sciences. 
He  should  also  have  eminent  power  of  illustration,  so  that 
by  parable  or  simile  he  may  make  truth  vivid  and  practi- 
cal. He  should  have  Mirthfulness,  to  appreciate  wit  and 
to  show  what  is  ridiculous  and  absurd,  and  on  proper  oc- 
casions to  enjoy  with  his  people  a  hearty  laugh.  He 
should  also  have  strong  social  affections,  that  he  may  sym- 
pathize with  people  in  domestic  afflictions,  and  know  how 
to  rejoice  with  all  that  makes  the  home  and  the  family  an 
emblem  of  heaven. 


PAETIAL  MOKAL  DEVELOPMENTS.         193 

MORAL   DEVELOPMENT. 

And  pre-eminently  should  the  minister  possess  moral 
power.  When  we  see  a  man  in  the  pulpit  with  a  head 
only  a  story-and-a-half  high,  with  predominant  animal 
tendencies,  we  pity  his  people,  and  we  pity  him. 

The  top-head  should  be  ample,  broad  and  long  as  well 
as  high,  indicating  not  only  great  devotional  feeling, 
whereby  he  may  lead  the  devotions  of  the  most  devout 
and  spiritual,  and  also  be  able  to  cultivate  the  devotional 
feeling  of  those  who  are  weak  in  that  respect;  but  he 
should  have  ethical  power,  and  ability  to  teach  integrity; 
and  not  only  should  this  be  true  of  him,  but  he  should  be 
able  also  to  sweep  over  the  human  heart  an  influence  that 
shall  awaken  its  sympathy  and  inspire  its  philanthropy. 

PARTIAL   MORAL   DEVELOPMENTS. 

We  have  known  men  in  the  pulpit  who  were  eminently 
devotional,  and  their  whole  service  seemed  to  center  and 
circle  around  this  one  feeling.  In  its  place  it  is  good,  but  it 
should  not  be  alone.  We  have  known  others  who  would 
bring  out  in  strong  relief  the  justice  of  God  and  his  law ; 
they  would  teach  justice  among  the  people,  and  thus  train 
a  congregation  to  be  upright  but  hard,  and  to  regard  the 
Deity,  not  as  a  loving  Father  and  Friend  who  "  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,"  but 
rather  regarding  Him  simply  as  a  sovereign,  grim,  severe, 
and  distant,  "  who  will  in  no  wise  clear  the  guilty."  An- 
other, with  extra  Benevolence,  and  with  but  little  Consci- 
entiousness, will  say  little  of  the  justice  of  God,  and  but 
little  of  justice  among  men.  He  will  amplify  the  benevo- 

9 


194  THE  PHKENOLOGIST. 

lent  spirit  of  Deity;  will  teach  kindness,  liberality,  and 
philanthropy  among  men ;  but  fail  to  teach  the  ethics  of 
religion  as  applicable  to  human  affairs.  Human  nature 
embraces  these  elements,  namely,  devotion,  faith,  integrity, 
and  philanthropy ;  and  those  who  would  teach  in  the  high- 
est and  best  sense  should  be  able  to  lead  the  faith  and  de- 
votion of  the  most  faithful  and  the  most  devout ;  should 
be  able  to  treat  topics  pertaining  to  the  realm  of  integrity 
and  ethics,  whether  they  relate  to  the  nature  of  God  or 
the  duties  of  man,  so  as  to  brace  and  strengthen  the  weak 
and  guide  and  regulate  the  strong ;  nor  should  the  princi- 
ple of  benevolence  be  neglected  in  this  world  of  selfishness 
and  strife.  We  need  "  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,"  not  only  to  keep  the  heart  warm  toward  the 
great  God  as  the  Father  and  Creator,  and  to  be  "just  and 
fear  not,"  but  also  to  be  sympathetical,  tender,  and  for- 
giving toward  our  fallible  fellow-men. 

The  man  who  can  walk  these  fields  of  influence,  who 
can  discharge  these  duties  amply,  may  well  be  called 
"Elder  Brother,"  "Father,"  "  Bishop." 

THE    PHRENOLOGIST. 

The  phrenologist,  like  the  minister,  the  physician,  and 
the  lawyer,  should  be  perfect ;  but  as  perfect  men  are  ex- 
ceedingly scarce,  and  as  the  world  must  be  served  by 
somebody  in  the  different  capacities  of  ministration,  its 
servants  must  needs  be  taken  from  among  imperfect 
material. 

The  ideal  phrenologist  should  have  a  large,  fine-grained, 


IDEAL  PERFECT  MAIN".  195 

healthy,  energetic,  and  enduring  body,  so  that  every  func- 
tion and  force  in  his  entire  make-up  would  be  as  perfect 
as  Creative  Wisdom  could  make  it.  If  such  a  person  ex- 
isted on  earth,  he  would  have  no  complete  companion- 
ship; would  find  nobody  who  would  be  his  peer. 

IDEAL    PERFECT    MAN. 

We  have  sometimes  imagined  a  man  organized  and  en- 
dowed in  all  the  faculties  so  as  to  rank  in  every  respect 
with  the  ablest  who  have  ever  made  talent  and  genius  illus- 
trious,— with  the  body  of  an  Adonis  for  beauty,  vigor,  and 
elasticity;  with  the  courage  and  energy  of  a  Caesar;  with 
the  philosophical  talent  of  Bacon,  the  wit  of  Cervantes, 
the  mechanical  talent  of  Watt,  the  imagination  of  Milton, 
the  poetic  fancy  of  Shakspeare,  the  benevolence  of  How- 
ard, the  religious  reverence  of  Fenelon,  the  patience  and 
fortitude  of  Job,  and  the  friendly  fidelity  of  a  Ruth  or  a 
Damon.  Such  a  man  thus  wise  in  all  human  capability, 
and  endowed  with  the  highest  pattern  of  courage  and  vir- 
tue, and  the  most  abiding  and  tender  affection,  would  be 
able  to  perform  any  duty,  to  accomplish  any  purpose,  arid 
achieve  any  result  possible  to  human  nature.  Common 
men,  if  they  could  at  some  fortunate  moment  appreciate 
such  a  man's  capacity  and  worth,  would  incline  to  worship 
him,  for  we  think  he  would  be  really  higher  and  better 
than  some  men  are  able  to  conceive  God  to  be. 

With  this  exposition  it  will  be  better  understood  that 
in  describing  what  is  requisite  for  the  different  trades 
and  professions  there  always  springs  up  this  thought, 
that  to  do  anything  well  it  is  desirable  that  the  doer 


196  THE  PHRENOLOGIST. 

have  every  power  and  faculty  belonging  to  human  nature 
in  its  highest  and  best  conditions. 

There  is  many  a  good  user  of  tools  with  great  skill  in 
manipulation,  and  if  in  addition  he  had  the  highest  order 
of  inventive  and  philosophical  talent  and  excellent  artistic 
taste,  he  would  be  all  the  better  qualified  even  for  a  black- 
smith or  boot-maker.  He  might  not  with  such  endow- 
ments be  willing  to  follow  those  pursuits,  but  while  he 
did  follow  them,  he  would  do  a  better  job  than  if  he 
had  only  the  practical  talent  necessary  to  do  the  work. 
Michael  Angelo,  one  of  the  first  artists  and  architects  the 
world  has  known,  was  all  the  better  constructor  for  the 
possession  of  those  supereminent  talents.  On  the  same 
principle  the  highest  culture  in  mathematics  is  no  detri- 
ment, but  rather  a  help  to  the  most  successful  use  of  the 
rules  of  arithmetic. 

BAD    HABITS    AND   THEIR   RESULTS. 

Dwarfed,  warped,  and  imperfect  specimens  of  human- 
ity, which  sometimes  we  think  almost  slander  the  wisdom 
of  the  Creator,  have  become  such  through  manifold  weak- 
ness, wickedness,  and  misfortune :  verily  "  the  fathers  have 
eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on 
edge."  Men  insist  on  their  right  to  live  as  they  please. 
They  use  tobacco,  and  their  children  often  lack  brain  and 
brawn  in  consequence ;  they  have  poisoned  their  system 
with  alcoholic  liquors,  or  perverted  their  stomach  and 
liver  by  high  living,  and  their  children  are  born  with 
dyspepsia,  consumption,  or  gout,  or  the  tendencies  thereto, 
— hence  we  find  men  very  imperfect;  and  if  we  would 


BODILY  QUALITIES.  197 

have  ministers,  magistrates,  physicians,  editors,  teachers, 
and  phrenologists,  we  must  select  our  candidates  from 
among  a  race  more  or  less  demoralized  by  thousands  of 
years  of  ignorance  and  vice.  We  should,  however,  select, 
so  far  as  we  may,  for  these  teachers  and  leaders  of  man- 
kind, those  who  are  the  least  imperfect,  those  best  endowed 
and  best  behaved ;  and  as  mankind  must  be  served  by 
those  who  are  imperfect,  it  is  a  matter  of  vital  conse- 
quence that  as  good  specimens  shall  be  selected  as  may  be 
found,  so  that  their  special  topic  of  instruction  may  be 
brought  within  the  scope  and  easy  comprehension  of  prac- 
tical thought. 

BODILY    QUALITIES. 

We  Bay,  first,  the  phrenologist  should  have  a  good 
body ;  there  should  be  strength,  vigor,  and  health.  Dys- 
peptics, or  those  who  are  nervous,  angular,  and  erratic, 
have  just  as  good  a  right  to  practice  Phrenology  as  others 
with  similar  defects  have  to  preach  the  gospel,  practice 
law,  treat  the  sick,  or  build  houses.  But  the  cure  of  souls 
and  of  bodies,  the  administration  of  justice,  the  construc- 
tion of  dwellings,  and  the  practice  of  Phrenology  are 
sometimes  so  badly  done  that  the  parties  in  interest  must 
suffer  more  or  less ;  therefore  we  claim  that,  if  possible, 
there  should  be  a  good,  sound,  hearty,  healthy  body,  so 
that  the  ministrations  or  labors  may  at  least  be  normal. 
The  temperaments  which  represent  the  bodily  conditions 
should  be  such  that  the  man  would  be  active  and  ener- 
getic ;  his  thoughts  clear,  earnest,  and  at  the  same  time 
cool  enough  not  to  be  warped  and  perverted. 


198  THE  PHRENOLOGIST. 

MENTAL   DEVELOPMENTS. 

The  phrenologist  should  have  a  good-sized  brain,  so 
that  he  may  have  mental  comprehensiveness  and  momen- 
tum, and  at  least  be  the  equal  of  the  average  man  in  the 
community ;  and  every  organ  of  his  mental  composition 
should  be  in  fair  development,  so  that  he  may  appreciate 
every  mental  power  in  human  nature,  and  be  able  to 
describe  it  successfully.  If  the  phrenologist  have  a  badly 
balanced  head,  his  examinations  will  always  be  so  toned 
and  warped  by  his  own  peculiarities  as  to  do  more  or  less 
injustice  to  nearly  every  person  who  comes  under  his 
hands.  If  he  have  extra  Cautiousness,  there  will  always 
be  hesitation,  reserve,  guarded  ness,  and  timidity  in  his 
descriptions,  and  his  advice  to  the  anxious  and  fearful 
will  be  anything  but  encouraging.  If  in  conjunction  with 
large  Cautiousness  he  have  small  Combativeness,  he  will 
never  talk  to  his  subject  as  Nathan  did  to  David,  looking 
him  sternly  in  the  eye  and  saying,  "Thou  art  the  man!" 
The  consequence  will  be  that  his  patron  will  not  be  fairly 
and  firmly  dealt  with.  If  the  phrenologist  have  extra 
large  Approbativeness,  he  will  be  inclined  to  say  pleasant 
things  to  his  subjects,  perhaps  flatter ;  will  smooth  over 
the  rough  points,  and  magnify  the  favorable  qualities.  If 
he  have  extra  large  Benevolence,  he  will  take  too  favor- 
able a  view  of  his  subject ;  will  excuse  or  palliate  errors 
and  defects.  If  his  Secretiveness  be  too  large,  he  will 
lack  directness  of  expression  ;  there  will  be  so  much  policy 
in  all  he  does  as  to  make  him  non-committal.  If  his  Am- 
ativeness  be  too  large,  it  will  give  to  his  life  and  profes- 
sional practice  a  tendency  to  sensuality ;  he  will  incline  to 


DEFICIENCIES.  199 

speak  of  vices  arising  from  tbe  abuse  of  this  feeling  in  a 
way  that  shall  debase  and  pervert  those  who  come  in  con- 
tact with  him.  If  the  examiner  have  excessive  Ideality, 
Spirituality,  and  Hope,  he  will  incline  to  paint  the  picture 
too  brightly,  and  encourage  young  men  falsely,  and  thus 
lure  them  into  rash  speculations.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
he  be  weak  in  Secretiveness,  he  will  be  blunt,  abrupt, 
speak  too  much,  and  lack  that  polish  and  judiciousness  of 
expression  which  is  essential  to  an  harmonious  character. 
Besides,  a  phrenologist,  especially  twenty  years  ago, 
needed  Secretiveness  enough  to  be  always  suspicious ;  for 
nearly  every  community  would  make  an  attempt  to  de- 
ceive him  by  dressing  up  the  weak  and  the  wicked  in  the 
garb  of  respectability  to  be  examined  and  described  pub- 
licly, or  by  taking  their  best  citizens  into  prisons  and  poor- 
houses  to  be  examined  as  if  they  were  culprits  or  paupers. 
A  full  degree  of  Secretiveness  wrould  lead  the  practical 
phrenologist  to  be  suspicious  of  all  such  tricks,  and  teach 
him  not  to  be  deceived  by  appearances  and  external  cir- 
cumstances, but  to  fall  back  upon  his  science,  regardless 
alike  of  applause  or  frowns  from  an  audience. 

DEFICIENCIES. 

If  he  lack  Conscientiousness,  he  will  not  be  able  to  ap- 
preciate the  higher  and  nobler  elements  of  truth  and  jus- 
tice, and  he  will  be  always  making  mistakes,  especially  in 
treating  those  who  are  better  endowed  in  this  respect  than 
himself.  Being  mostly  governed  by  other  qualities,  he 
will  know  but  little  about  abstract  virtue  and  justice,  and 
not  be  likely  to  give  anybody  credit  for  those  qualities; 


200  THE  PHEENOLOGIST. 

if  he  be  lacking  in  his  philosophical  faculties, — if  his  rea- 
soning organs  be  weak,  he  will  never  be  able  to  measure 
men  or  describe  those  who  have  those  qualities  strongly 
marked,  but  will  be  flat,  vapid,  and  shallow  in  his  descrip- 
tions of  those  of  superior  talent. 

With  lack  of  Combativeness  .and  Destructiveness,  he 
will  be  too  gentle  and  tender,  fearful  of  hurting  one's  feel- 
ings ;  and  even  though  he  may  know  what  he  ought  to 
say,  he  will  lack  the  manly  power  to  say  it  so  as  to  make 
it  serviceable  to  the  subject  or  honorable  to  the  truth  of 
science.  The  phrenologist  should  be  amply  developed  in 
the  social  organs,  not  only  that  he  may  win  friends  by 
proper  appeals  to  the  social  nature  in  others,  but  because  in 
his  examinations  so  much  needs  to  be  said  relative  to  social 
life,  and  he  should  be  qualified  by  strong  social  feeling  to 
say  it  effectively.  He  should  have  rather  large  Self-Es- 
teem and  Firmness,  to  give  him  self-reliance  and  dignity, 
that  his  word  may  be  as  law  to  his  patrons, — also  that  bis 
character  may  be  manly,  steadfast,  and  honorable  He 
should  have  at  least  a  full  share  of  Acquisitiveness,  to  prize 
his  services,  and  to  secure  from  his  labors  adequate  com- 
pensation, and  also  to  appreciate  the  law  of  economics, 
that  the  advice  he  gives  as  to  business  may  be  useful  to 
his  patrons.  He  should  have  only  medium  Alimentive- 
ness,  that  he  may  not  only  keep  his  system  in  right  rela- 
tions to  health  and  effort,  but  be  an  example  of  temper- 
ance to  all.  A  drinking,  smoking  phrenologist  should  be 
regarded  as  an  abomination,  and  utterly  repudiated.  He 
should  have  a  good  memory,  to  retain  knowledge ;  and 
large  Language,  to  express  himself  handsomely;  and  large 


KNOWLEDGE  or  COMMON  LIFE.  201 

Ideality,  to  give  a  poetic  and  eloquent  spirit  as  well  as  a 
polished  style  and  manner.  He  should  be  a  man  of  talent, 
and  a  gentleman.  The  phrenologist  needs  to  have  enough 
of  each  faculty  to  feel  at  home  in  lecturing  upon  it,  or 
describing  its  action  in  the  subjects  under  his  hands;  be- 
sides, the  phrenologist  ought  to  know  something  about 
life  besides  that  which  he  gets  from  books. 

KNOWLEDGE  OF  COMMON  LIFE. 

We  have  often  thought  that  labor  on  a  farm  for  years 
in  early  life  was  almost  indispensable  to  sound  and  com- 
prehensive judgment,  and  that  the  experience  and  knowl- 
edge there  gained  would  be  highly  serviceable  to  a  man  in 
any  department  of  life.  For  a  person  to  know  how  every- 
thing that  he  eats  appears  as  it  is  growing,  and  to  know 
the  history  of  whatever  he  eats,  drinks,  and  wears,  is  no 
mean  acquisition.  The  phrenologist  is  all  the  better  for 
understanding  something  of  every  trade  and  avocation  by 
which  men  get  a  living ;  then  if  persons  be  brought  to 
him  who  are  seeking  to  know  what  avocations  they  are 
best  adapted  to,  he  will  be  able  to  direct  each  man  to  the 
right  place.  The  muscular  developments,  the  strength, 
the  style  of  temperament,  and  the  aptitude  for  particular 
pursuits  must  all  be  estimated;  and  the  more  the  phre- 
nologist knows  by  experience  or  observation  of  the  duties, 
privations,  peculiarities,  and  requirements  of  all  kinds  of 
business,  the  more  readily  will  he  be  able  to  assign  to 
each  person  the  peculiar  avocation,  all  things  considered, 
best  adapted  to  him.  One  reason  why  men  who  start  in 
humble  life,  and  have  to  work  their  way  up  to  position 


202  THE  PHRENOLOGIST. 

and  influence  through  hardships  and  difficulties,  are  so 
effective,  and  able  to  meet  men  where  they  live,  and  on 
their  own  ground,  and  in  their  own  peculiar  trials  and  cir- 
cumstances, is  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  have  learn- 
ed skill  by  practice  and  self-reliance  by  necessity.  One 
reared  in  the  lap  of  luxury,  having  conversed  with  wrell- 
to-do,  happy  people  only,  may  preach  an  able  sermon  or 
a  sound  theology ;  but  one  of  those  pioneer  Methodists, 
raised  on  a  farm,  knowing  what  poverty  and  privation 
mean,  can  go  among  the  poor  and  preach  a  gospel  that 
the  poor  will  understand.  But  one  or  two  of  the  twelve 
Apostles  were  learned  and  polished ;  the  others  were  com- 
mon men,  having  very  little  learning  and  no  worldly  po- 
sition, with  all  the  weaknesses,  frailties,  and  temptations 
which  belong  to  the  lower  relations  of  life ;  and  they 
were  adapted  to  go  out  and  "preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature." 

The  phrenologist,  like  the  minister,  then,  is  all  the  bet- 
ter for  having  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  common  in- 
dustries and  common  life,  as  well  as  with  books  and  with 
the  learned  and  noble,  and  he  who  has  the  breadth  to 
comprehend,  and  the  wisdom  to  apply  knowledge  thus 
gained,  can  best  succeed  in  the  duties  of  his  profession. 

PECULIAR   CULTURE. 

The  practice  of  Phrenology,  more  than  any  other  pur- 
suit, tends  to  the  cultivation  of  the  different  faculties  and 
dispositions  of  the  mind.  For  when  one  lectures  upon 
the  organs,  and  explains  a  faculty  or  propensity,  he  is  of 
necessity  brought  into  sympathy  with  the  subject,  with 


RELIGIOUS  NATURE  AND  CULTUKE.       203 

the  spirit  of  each  faculty  he  talks  about;  and  when  one 
applies  the  science  in  examinations,  in  order  to  describe 
each  organ  successfully,  he  must  of  necessity  have  an 
active  sympathy  with  that  which  he  describes ;  conse- 
quently each  of  his  faculties,  while  he  describes  the  cor- 
responding one  in  his  subject,  must  be  wrought  up  into  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  intensity.  Thus  the  brain  of  the 
practical  phrenologist,  if  he  have  a  good  body  to  support 
it,  will  grow  in  size,  and  his  faculties  will  increase  their 
power  and  long  retain  their  elasticity.  We  know  of  noth- 
ing better  adapted  to  call  strength  to  weak  faculties  and 
modify  and  regulate  strong  ones  than  the  practice  of 
Phrenology,  especially  if  it  be  done  in  a  conscientious 
and  upright  spirit. 

RELIGIOUS   NATURE   AND   CULTURE. 

The  phrenologist  ought  to  have  not  only  strong  moral 
qualities,  but  the  spiritual  elements  should  be  amply  de- 
veloped and  cultivated.  There  is  no  motive  which  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  human  nature  which  exercises  a 
more  elevating  and  invigorating  influence  upon  it  than 
those  which  relate  to  the  spiritual  and  immortal.  We 
pity  the  phrenologist  who  is  an  atheist,  who  regards  him- 
self as  a  mere  machine  adapted  only  to  this  life,  without 
any  relationship  to  or  hope  for  the  higher  and  better  life. 

As  the  moral  and  spiritual  faculties  are  the  highest  of 
all,  the  phrenologist  should  be  largely  endowed  in  the 
top-head,  and  have  a  profoundly  religious  spirit,  so  that  he 
may  instruct  men  to  lead  a  nobler  life  by  proper  appeals 
to  their  moral  nature.  Few  ministers  of  religion  have  a 


204  THE  PHKEKOLOGIST. 

chance  to  guide,  instruct,  and  impress  men  so  extendedly 
and  thoroughly  as  the  phrenologist.  He  lectures  to  large 
congregations,  often  six  times  a  week ;  but  in  his  numer- 
ous professional  examinations  he  has  an  opportunity  to 
impress  truth  upon  the  individual  which  is  unequaled ;  be- 
cause by  its  individual  directness  it  is  almost  certain  to  be 
ineffaceable. 

EARLY    OPPOSITION. 

When  the  writer  entered  the  phrenological  field  as  a 
lecturer  in  1839,  he  was  severely  criticised  by  his  brethren 
in  the  church  for  engaging  in  such  a  profession.  Indeed, 
the  day  was  appointed  by  the  church  to  investigate  the 
subject  as  a  misdemeanor.  But  some  of  the  brethren, 
disposed  to  "  prove  all  things,  and  hold  fast  that  which 
is  good,"  proposed  to  have  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  sub- 
ject, to  ascertain  the  nature,  the  drift,  the  tendency,  and 
the  morality,  not  to  say  religious  tendencies,  of  Phrenol- 
ogy ;  and  then,  if  necessary,  proceed  to  the  investigation 
of  the  propriety  of  a  Christian  man  engaging  in  a  profes- 
sion at  that  time  largely  "  spoken  against."  The  lectures 
were  delivered,  the  minister  himself  as  well  as  the  whole 
congregation  being  present.  All  the  public  examinations 
were  made  by  the  lecturer  blindfold,  because  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  all  his  auditors.  Nothing  further  was 
heard  of  the  inquisition,  and  most  of  those  who  interested 
themselves  in  the  subject  have  since  become  cordial  be- 
lievers and  firm  supporters  of  Phrenology. 

WHAT   IS   PHRENOLOGY. 

Now,  what  relation  does  the  study  and  practice  of 


OTHER  VOCATIONS.  205 

Phrenology  —  the  belief  in  and  support  of  it  —  bear  to 
other  vocations  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Phrenology  ?  Many  persons  do  not  stop  to  ascertain  that 
the  two  Greek  words — (ppr^^phren  (mind),  and  Xoyo£,  logos 
(discourse) — of  which  this  term  is  composed,  mean  a  dis- 
course upon  the  mind.  Phrenology  teaches  the  nature, 
the  tendency,  and  the  proper  training  of  every  power  of 
the  mind ;  of  every  passion  and  propensity ;  of  every  sen- 
timent, esthetical  and  religious.  It  is  a  system  of  mental 
philosophy.  It  grasps  the  intellect  in  all  its  varied  pow- 
ers. In  short,  the  MAN,  in  his  social,  secular,  animal,  in- 
tellectual, and  moral  nature,  is  the  topic  of  its  investi- 
gation, the  field  of  its  labor.  Who,  then,  shall  call  it 
unworthy?  Who  shall  think  it  of  less  importance  than 
any  other?  Indeed,  rightly  understood  and  properly 
treated,  it  need  not  bow  its  head  in  the  presence  of  any 
of  the  other  professions. 

OTHER   VOCATIONS. 

The  architect  plans  houses  and  bridges,  and  for  this 
society  needs  and  rewards  him.  The  builder,  with  his 
adze,  saw,  and  chisel,  follows  the  architect,  and  produces 
in  stone,  brick,  wood,  and  iron  the  ideal  of  the  architect, 
and  as  a  result  we  have  houses  to  dwell  in  and  bridges  to 
span  our  rivers.  The  machinist  constructs  the  instru- 
ments of  industry  which  do  our  work,  and  his  machine 
weaves  our  cloth,  hammers  our  iron,  saws  our  timber  and 
planes  it,  and  draws  our  weighty  trains  over  the  iron  track. 
But  these  blessings  come  to  the  body,  and,  indirectly  only, 
minister  to  mind  and  soal;  they  are  still  outside  the  man 


206  THE  PHRENOLOGIST. 

himself.  He  that  constructs  the  house  builds  the  outer 
garment.  He  that  constructs  the  coat  and  hat  is  still  work- 
ing at  the  outer  garments.  Such  are  ministrants  of  the 
body.  The  physician  himself,  called  to  aid  in  treating  the 
sick,  treats  the  body,  just  as  the  tailor  and  the  shoemaker 
minister  also  to  the  body,  though  the  physician  comes  a 
little  nearer  home.  But  if  the  physician  deal  with  the 
body  in  sickness,  the  grain  producer,  the  miller,  and  the 
baker  also  minister  to  the  body  in  health.  All  are  ser- 
vants of  the  body.  The  teacher  trains  the  intellect,  and 
the  major  part  of  his  labor  bears  the  same  relation  to 
mind  that  the  grindstone  does  to  the  axe,  simply  sharpens 
it  for  use.  The  province  of  the  lawyer  is  to  settle  the 
quarrels  and  difficulties  and  to  adjust  the  secular  rights  of 
men.  All  these  are  more  or  less  external.  The  teacher's 
duties  are  more  intrinsic  than  those  of  the  lawyer;  still 
the  lawyer's  proper  duties  are  useful  and  indispensable. 
So  are  the  teacher's  and  the  physician's.  The  minister  of 
religion  is  acknowledged  to  rank  among  the  first,  or  as 
the  first  among  men,  because  his  functions  relate  to  this 
life  and  to  the  life  to  come — to  the  welfare  of  the  soul  as 
well  as  of  the  body.  In  fact,  if  the  clergy,  as  a  class, 
knew  five  times  as  much  about  the  body  as  they  now 
do,  and  would  preach  to  their  people  the  gospel  of  physi- 
ology, so  that  they  might  have  sound  minds  in  sound 
bodies,  and  thus  be  qualified  to  be  more  successfully  led  in 
the  path  of  righteousness  and  holiness,  it  would  be  better 
for  the  human  race.  Abstract  theology  is  good, — so  is 
the  roof  to  a  house, — but  it  needs  something  to  go  with  it 
to  make  it  in  the  highest  degree  serviceable. 


FUNCTIONS  or  THE  PHKENOLOGIST.       207 

TRUE    FUNCTION    OF   THE    PHRENOLOGIST. 

What  is  the  function  of  the  PHRENOLOGIST  ?  What  is 
the  material  on  which  he  works  ?  He  must  be  a  physiolo- 
gist, and  must  know  and  teach  that  which  the  doctor 
knows,  and  ought  to  teach,  but  in  far  too  many  instances 
does  not.  He  must  study  the  intellect  in  all  its  phases, 
that  he  may  guide  people  to  the  right  use  of  the  mind  in 
the  various  directions  of  science,  industry,  and  usefulness. 
He  should  appreciate  the  moral  and  the  spiritual,  and  in 
the  administration  of  his  profession  should  know  how  to 
use  these  elements  in  a  normal  manner,  so  that  if  he  does 
not  preach  theology  per  se,  he  can  lead  people  quite  up  to 
the  point  where  theology  can  be  understood  and  accepted. 
But  the  true  phrenologist  is  also  a  theologist,  teaching 
men  not  only  that  which  relates  to  the  physical  life,  but 
also  to  the  spiritual  life. 

All  the  social  faculties  which  bring  to  us  happiness  and 
unhappiness,  through  which,  indeed,  both  the  smiles  and 
tears  of  the  world  flow,  come  within  the  scope  of  phre- 
nological investigation.  Every  passion  and  propensity, 
every  hope  and  fear,  every  ray  of  light  and  joy,  every 
flash  of  wit,  every  scintillation  of  sentiment,  every  aspira- 
tion for  the  good,  the  true,  the  beautiful,  belongs  to  the 
sphere  of  phrenological  investigation  and  instruction. 
Other  professions  are  partial  and  fragmentary.  The 
mathematician  addresses  himself  to  three  or  four  faculties 
only.  The  mechanician  may  be  wise  in  the  direction  of 
four  or  five  faculties,  and  there  his  study  practically  ceases. 
The  theologist  has  hitherto  dealt  mainly  with  the  moral 
faculties.  The  teacher  thinks  he  has  finished  his  work 


208  THE  PHKENOLOGIST. 

when  he  has  instructed  the  intellect ;  the  physician,  when 
his  patient  recovers  his  health ;  the  lawyer,  when  he  has 
adjusted  our  differences,  or  rectified  the  blunders  and  mis- 
takes of  ignorance  and  selfishness,  regards  his  task  as 
accomplished.  When  the  clothier  or  carpenter  have 
clothed  and  sheltered  the  body,  they  congratulate  them- 
selves, on  receipt  of  their  compensation,  that  they  have 
fulfilled  their  duties. 

But  the  phrenologist  has  to  do  with  faculties  through 
which  and  toward  which  all  these  professions  minister. 
As  he  deals  with  every  faculty,  and  others  have  to  do 
with  a  portion  of  them  only,  as  every  interest  that  belongs 
to  the  body,  mind,  and  soul  come  under  the  administration 
of  the  phrenologist,  if  he  be  a  true  man,  well  instructed 
in  all  that  belongs  to  his  vocation,  there  is  no  one  who 
should  rank  higher,  because  no  one  has  so  much  to  do  • 
with  the  weal  and  woe  of  men.  It  is  his  duty  to  guide 
parents  and  teachers  in  the  education  of  children,  accord- 
ing to  their  particular  talents  or  capacities.  It  is  his 
province  to  aid  in  the  selection  of  pursuits — trades  or  pro- 
fessions. He  properly  holds  in  his  hands  the  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  his  fellow-men.  A  single  word  of  ad- 
vice from  him,  fitly  spoken,  may  act  as  the  switch -point  of 
the  rail  track,  to  change  the  course  and  destiny  of  a 
young  man  for  life.  It  is  his  prerogative  to  select  for  the 
world's  service  those  capable  of  being  prominent  in  their 
various  pursuits.  When  he  is  more  generally  consulted, 
and  his  advice  followed,  there  will  not  be  a  single  Watt, 
Fulton,  Arkwright,  or  Morse;  and  there  shall  be  fewer 
men  wrecked  in  wrong  pursuits  to  their  own  damage  and 


DIGNITY  OF  THE  PROFESSION.  209 

to  the  serious  detriment  of  their  age  and  generation.  If 
any  reader  thinks  Phrenology  is  a  small  profession,  let  him 
rectify  his  opinion  from  this  hour.  If  weak  or  wicked  men 
in  the  phrenological  field  have  disgraced  themselves  and 
damaged  the  science  and  its  application,  it  should  not  be 
the  standard  for  judging  all.  One  in  twelve,  perhaps,  of 
phrenological  teachers  may  have  disgraced  themselves  and 
their  subject,  but  the  eleven  should  not  be  condemned  for 
one  Judas.  Those  who  work  in  the  phrenological  cause, 
and  those  who  contemplate  entering  it,  if  they  will  for  a 
moment  consider  the  importance  of  the  subject,  the  material 
with  which  they  have  to  deal,  viz.,  the  bodies  and  souls, 
the  intellect,  the  affection  and  the  sentiment  of  humanity, 
that  no  other  has  so  wide,  so  interesting,  and  so  important 
a  vocation,  let  him  stand  erect  and  be  thankful  for  a  field 
of  effort  second  to  none  in  importance,  in  value,  and  dig- 
nity. And  let  it  be  his  privilege,  as  it  is  his  duty,  to 
faithfully  work  in  that  field,  and  by  culture  of  head  and 
of  heart  make  himself  worthy  his  high  vocation,  that  it 
may  be  said  of  him  at  last,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faith- 
ful servant !  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  1 n 


210     FOOD  FOE  THINKEES  AND  WOEKEBS. 


food  (or  f  hinte  mtd  ijorte. 


THERE  is  no  subject  with  which  everybody  has  so  much 
to  do,  and  in  respect  to  which  so  many  people  know  so 
little.  The  subject  of  diet  is  an  unpleasant  one,  so  we 
propose  to  say  nothing  about  it.  The  subject  of  food  is 
a  very  agreeable  one,  and  we  shall  therefore  confine  our 
remarks  to  it. 

There  are  three  necessities  for  the  use  of  food.  The 
boy  would  make  but  one — "'Caus  I'm  hungry."  The 
gourmand  would  say,  "  Because  it  tastes  good."  Physi- 
ology says,  "  One  object  of  food  is  to  keep  up  animal  heat ; 
another,  to  furnish  material  to  build  up  the  tissues  of  the 
body,  the  bones,  muscles,  nerves,  and  all  the  organs ;  and 
a  third  and  most  important  use  of  food  is  to  furnish  mus- 
cular and  brain  force,  thereby  giving  power  of  thought 
and  action."  In  nearly  all  kinds  of  food  the  elements  re- 
quired for  the  support  of  the  system  are  found,  but  not  in 
those  proportions  which  are  necessary  for  its  complete 
nourishment.  Hence  the  necessity  for  variety,  so  that 
what  is  deficient  in  one  kind  may  be  found  in  another. 
To  speak  scientifically,  it  is  now  believed  that  during  vig- 
orous action  of  the  brain  a  great  deal  of  phosphorus  is 
used  up,  and  that  vigorous  thought  can  not  long  be  main- 
tained without  the  use  of  such  food  as  contains  much  of 


FOOD  FOB  THINKERS  AND  WORKERS.     211 

this  substance.  Hence  thinkers  will  do  well  to  use  those 
articles  of  diet  which  contain  considerable  phosphorus, 
as  eggs,  fish,  oysters,  mutton,  and  unbolted  wheaten  bread. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  thinkers  relish  and  even  crave 
these  articles.  Prof.  Agassiz  recommends  the  use  of  fish 
for  brain  workers  on  account  of  the  large  quantity  of 
phosphorus  it  contains.  He  says,  "Fish  enters  largely 
into  the  requisition  of  the  human  system.  It  is  a  kind  of 
food  which  refreshes  the  system,  especially  after  intellect- 
ual fatigue.  There  is  no  other  article  of  food  that  sup- 
plies the  waste  of  the  head  so  thoroughly  as  fish  diet. 
Fish  contains  phosphorus  to  a  large  extent,  a  chemical  ele- 
ment which  the  brain  requires  for  growth  and  life.  He 
would  not  say  that  exclusive  use  of  fish  would  make  a 
blockhead  a  wise  man,  but  that  the  brain  would  not  be 
wanting  in  one  of  its  essential  elements." 

We  may  add  that  phosphorus  is  not  used  in  the  brain 
alone,  for  it  is  found  in  small  quantities  in  nearly  every 
tissue  of  the  body,  while  in  the  bones  it  exists  in  the  form 
of  phosphate  of  lime  in  very  large  proportions.  Unbolted 
wheat-meal  bread  contains  a  great  deal  of  the  phosphate 
of  lime,  and  is  an  article  of  diet  from  which  to  nourish 
and  build  up  a  good  bony  structure,  as  about  half  of  the 
substance  of  bones  is  phosphate  of  lime;  if  they  were  not, 
they  would  bend  and  yield  under  the  great  pressure  to 
which  they  are  subject.  In  countries  where  brown  bread 
and  oatmeal  are  largely  eaten,  there  will  be  found  few 
rickety  and  hump-backed  people. 

The  muscular  tissue,  and  the  tissues  of  most  of  the 
other  organs  of  the  body,  on  the  other  hand,  contain  very 


212     FOOD  FOE  THINKERS  AND  WOEKEES. 

little  phosphorus  and  no  phosphate  of  lime.  If  they  did, 
they  would  be  stiff  and  rigid,  preventing  movement  with 
agility  and  grace.  Muscular  tissue  is  made  up  very 
largely  of  what  chemists  call  nitrogenized  substances, 
that  is,  substances  containing  nitrogen.  A  physiologist 
would  call  them  Proteids.  The  proteids  are  the  gluten  of 
flour,  the  albumen  of  white  of  egg,  syntonin,  a  chief  con- 
stituent of  muscle,  the  casein  of  cheese,  etc.  These  sub- 
stances are  similar  in  composition,  and  no  doubt  in  the 
body  are  converted  from  one  to  another.  They  abound 
in  beans,  peas,  corn,  wheat,  and  lean  meat  of  all  kinds. 
Those  who  wish  to  possess  good  muscles,  and  use  mus- 
cular power  to  labor,  should  eat  of  food  in  which  these 
substances  abound. 

The  provision  for  keeping  the  body  warm  is  a  very  im- 
portant one,  and  there  is  a  special  class  of  articles  of  food 
adapted  to  do  this.  They  are  the  fats,  as  any  kind  of  oily 
or  fatty  matter ;  and  the  amyloids,  as  starch,  gum,  sugar. 
These  substances  contain  a  great  deal  of  carbon,  but  no 
nitrogen.  The  slow  burning  of  this  carbon  in  the  body  is 
the  main  source  of  animal  heat,  while  an  excess  of  such 
food  furnishes  the  supply  of  fat  to  store  up  in  the  system 
for  future  need,  and  to  round  out  the  body  and  give  it  a 
plump,  full  appearance.  The  principal  articles  of  food 
which  supply  material  for  animal  heat  are  fat  meat,  butter, 
cream,  oily  nuts,  sugar,  sweet  fruits;  articles  containing 
much  starch,  as  potatoes,  rice,  the  various  grains,  etc.  In 
winter  we  need  a  great  deal  more  of  this  food  than  in  sum- 
mer ;  indeed,  in  summer,  food  containing  fatty  or  starchy 
matter  or  sugar  should  be  eaten  very  sparingly. 


FOOD  FOR  THINKERS  AND  WORKERS.     213 

Recent  physiologists  maintain  that  much  of  the  muscu- 
lar and  other  forces  of  the  body  are  the  result  of  the  com- 
bustion of  this  kind  of  food  in  the  system,  analogous  to 
the  force  of  steam  in  the  engine.  This  may  explain  why 
hard  workers,  even  in  hot  weather,  desire  fat  meat,  and  why 
Arabs,  who  live  largely  on  dates,  are  so  muscular ;  and  the 
value  of  dates  as  an  article  of  diet  is  corroborated  by 
others  who  walk  much. 

But  how  few  men  know  what  to  eat !  We  have  seen 
lawyers,  during  court  time,  come  to  the  table  and  eat  roast 
pork,  rice  or  Indian  pudding  highly  sweetened,  and  wind 
up  with  mince  pie  and  cheese.  They  understood  the  stat- 
ute laws,  but  not  the  laws  of  the  human  body,  and  their 
causes  and  clients  suffered  from  the  muddy  state  of  intel- 
lect induced  by  their  ill-selected  food.  That  dinner  might 
have  answered  for  a  stage-driver,  or  a  man  going  into 
the  forest  for  a  load  of  wood,  with  the  thermometer  at 
zero. 

In  old  time,  baked  beans  and  pork  constituted  the  Sun- 
day food  in  New  England,  and  an  old  divine  carefully  and 
mirthfully  undertook  to  estimate  the  number  of  "  tons  of 
beans  and  pork  preached  to  in  New  England  every  Sun- 
day while  the  owners  were  asleep."  This  illustrates  one 
point,  that  those  who  are  expected  to  be  skillful  and 
thoughtful  should  not  eat  food  chiefly  adapted  to  produce 
heat,  and  fat,  and  sleep. 

We  are  often  asked  to  give  a  list  of  articles  of  food 
which  furnish  support  for  brain,  and  is  therefore  fit  for 
thinkers  and  students.  We  are  also  often  requested  to 
give  a  list  of  articles  best  adapted  to  support  muscular 


214     FOOD  FOE  THINKERS  AND  WORKERS. 

power.  We  can  not  attempt  here  to  do  more  than  give  a 
few  hints. 

Those  who  expect  to  think  should  not  eat  much  of  that 
food  which  produces  warmth  and  fat,  such  as  ham,  fat 
pork,  white  bread,  butter,  rice,  tapioca,  sugar,  and  starch. 
These  contain  very  little  phosphatic  food,  or  support  for 
brain,  being  chiefly  carbonaceous  or  heat-producing. 

The  amount  of  phosphatic  or  brain-supporting  food  con- 
tained in  the  flesh  of  animals  is  in  proportion  to  the  activity 
of  the  animals ;  those  of  great  activity,  such  as  the  canary- 
bird,  for  instance,  secure  food  which  feeds  brain,  nerve, 
and  muscle,  but  does  not  produce  fat.  The  flesh  of  the 
trout,  the  pickerel,  or  salmon  impart  more  mental  and  phys- 
ical vigor  to  the  eater  than  the  flesh  of  comparatively 
dormant  fish,  like  the  eel  and  flounder.  The  flesh  of  wild 
animals,  such  as  the  bison,  or  deer,  and  boar,  promote 
activity  in  the  eater  more  than  the  stall-fed  ox,  sheep,  or 
hog.  Wild  game  generally  is  considered  better  food, 
especially  for  the  convalescent,  than  the  fattened  domestic 
turkey  or  goose.  Barley,  oats,  and  wheat  ground  without 
bolting,  furnish  food  for  brain ;  but  lawyers,  ministers,  and 
students  eat  the  white,  superfine,  or  bolted  wheat  bread, 
and  go  to  sleep.  That  which  would  fatten  a  pig,  and  give 
him  no  desire  to  exercise  or  to  think,  is  eaten  by  the 
learned  and  refined  of  the  human  race,  who  look  in  pity 
upon  the  poor  peasant  following  the  plow,  because  he  is 
obliged  to  eat  his  brown  loaf;  which  brown  loaf  and  cheap 
fish  and  wild  game  contain  the  incitement  to  brain  work, 
in  which  poems,  orations,  and  art  are  conceived  and  nursed. 

The  proper  food  for  laboring  men — we  mean  those  who 


FOOD  FOR  THINKERS  AND  WORKERS.     215 

have  to  exercise  muscular  strength  chiefly — should  be  that 
which  contains  nitrogenous  and  carbonaceous  matter. 
Among  these  articles  brown  bread,  meat,  and  cheese  stand 
high.  The  red  flesh  of  the  ox  or  sheep  and  unbolted  bread 
are  the  leading  articles.  Men  who  train  prize-fighters  seem 
to  understand  much  better  than  others  how  to  build  up 
physical  strength  and  endurance.  When  their  battle  or 
their  race  is  ended,  they  lay  aside  their  unbolted  bread 
and  fruit,  their  lean  beef  and  mutton,  and  fall  into  their 
old  habits  of  liquor-drinking  and  of  eating  starch-bearing 
articles,  such  as  rice,  fine  bread,  pudding,  with  fat  meat 
and  butter,  and  they  soon  become  as  fat  and  lazy  as  these 
carbonaceous  articles  can  make  them. 

If  a  man  wants  to  stand  the  cold,  he  may  eat  buckwheat 
cakes  with  butter,  sirup,  fat  pork  and  white  beans ;  but  let 
him  look  out,  when  hot  weather  comes,  for  bilious  fevers, 
pimples  on  the  face,  and  a  rank  smell  of  the  whole  system, 
and  a  muddy,  dirty  complexion.  Men  living  at  the  north 
pole,  or  near  it,  can  drink  fish-oil  by  the  quart,  or  eat 
pounds  of  cake  tallow,  and  the  cold  climate  will  burn  it 
out ;  but  in  warm  or  temperate  regions  the  food  should  be 
so  selected  as  to  furnish  nourishment  for  muscle,  bone, 
brain,  and  warmth  in  proper  proportions. 

Many  persons  ask  what  vegetable  and  farinaceous  food 
is  best  to  support  the  brain  ?  We  reply,  unbolted  wheat, 
Southern  corn,  oats,  barley,  beans,  peas,  and  sweet  pota- 
toes ;  indeed,  these  are  excellent  articles  also  for  the  sup- 
port of  muscle. 

We  regret  to  see  poor  women  go  to  market  with  a  big 
basket  and  a  slender  purse  on  Saturday  night  to  buy 


216     FOOD  FOR  THINKEES  AND  WOEKEES. 

food  for  hungry,  thin-clad  children.  And  what  do  these 
women  get?  Turnips,  cabbage,  beets,  carrots,  potatoes, 
and  fish.  They  carry  home  a  load,  but  their  green  vege- 
tables are  from  75  to  95  per  cent,  water,  and  the  nutrition 
which  is  obtained  is  very  little ;  whereas  if  they  would  put 
half  the  money  into  corn  meal,  wheat  meal,  white  beans, 
and  mutton,  they  could  live  grandly  on  it,  and  have  the 
rest  for  the  purchase  of  fuel  and  clothes.  But  the  rich 
delectate  on  fine  flour,  cake,  butter,  pies,  fat  poultry,  nice 
fat  ham,  eating  four  times  too  much  carbon,  and  not  half 
enough  phosphorus  or  nitrogen  for  brain  and  muscle. 
One  class  starve,  get  poor,  weak,  sickly,  and  die  of  maras- 
mus ;  while  the  others,  who  are  able  to  have  every  thing, 
become  dyspeptical,  feverish,  and  diseased  from  the  extra 
richness  of  their  food.  "  Man  should  not  live  by  bread 
alone,"  especially  superfine  bread.  If  one  eats  wheat-meal 
bread  and  milk,  he  will  find  in  these  two  articles  all  the 
elements  which  the  system  requires  in  just  about  the  right 
proportion.  But  who  knows  how  to  eat  ?  The  old  prayer 
in  its  application  to  the  most  of  us  should  be  extended — 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  food,  and  tell  us  what  kind  of 
food  we  should  daily  eat."  This  prayer  is  really  answered 
by  chemistry  and  physiology ;  but  the  world  turns  up  its 
precious  nose  at  the  studies  of  chemistry  and  physiology 
as  applied  to  the  kitchen  and  the  stomach.  It  does  very 
well  to  compound  medicines  and  hair-dyes,  cosmetics, 
paints,  dyestuffs,  and  materials  for  manufactures  and  com- 
merce; but  when  chemistry  in  cooking  is  the  subject, 
or  physiology  is  applied  to  food  and  regimen,  science  is 
flouted,  and  folly  and  appetite  are  enthroned. 


HOW  TO  EDUCATE  EACH  IAN 

FOR  HIS  PROPER  WORK. 


THE  term  education  has  more  meaning  than  those  who 
use  it  generally  suppose.  The  acquisition  of  book  knowl- 
edge, such  as  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  and  the 
like,  to  most  minds  answers  as  a  definition  of  the  word 
education.  But  in  its  widest  sense  it  embraces  the  train- 
ing of  the  intellectual  powers  and  the  acquisition  of  scho- 
lastic knowledge ;  it  embraces,  also,  the  training  and  devel- 
opment of  the  moral  sentiments,  the  guidance  and  control 
of  the  animal  propensities  and  of  the  social  dispositions. 
It  embraces  still  more,  taking  in  the  development  and 
proper  care  of  the  bodily  constitution,  and  the  training  of 
the  muscles  to  act  in  obedience  to  the  mind. 

PERVERSION   BY   TRAINING. 

In  respect  to  the  education  of  the  emotional  nature,  in- 
cluding the  passions  and  sentiments,  there  are  two  forms 
in  which  they  may  be  educated  to  act.  The  imagination, 
the  most  exalted  and  refined  part  of  the  mental  nature, 
may  be  diverted  from  its  legitimate  action  and  led  into  the 
fields  of  wild  and  romantic  fantasy  until  the  mind  loses  its 
just  balance.  The  appetite  for  food,  nature's  commissary 
for  resupplying  the  wasted  energies  of  the  system,  may  be 

10 


218  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

so  trained  as  to  crave  noxious  drinks  and  stimulants. 
Acquisitiveness,  or  the  love  of  property,  may  be  wrongly 
educated  so  as  to  take  a  miserly  direction.  The  faculties 
which  give  energy,  courage,  industry,  and  force  are  fre- 
quently perverted  by  training  to  act  as  low  and  quarrel- 
some  dispositions.  In  like  manner  prudence  may  be  per- 
verted to  fear,  ambition  to  vanity ;  and  pride,  which  should 
give  a  just  self-estimation,  may  be  warped  so  as  to  exhibit 
austerity  and  haughtiness. 

The  perversion  of  the  faculties  produced  by  improper 
influences  exhibits  the  susceptibility  of  the  mind  to  train- 
ing and  culture,  and  ought  to  be  a  hint  to  all  who  have 
the  charge  of  the  young,  not  only  as  a  guard  against  im- 
proper influences,  but  as  an  encouragement  to  place  before 
the  mind  of  the  pupil  such  conditions  as  shall  be  calculated 
to  lead  it  aright.  Mental  discord  arising  from  bad  train- 
ing and  vicious  habits  is  as  palpable  as  the  jargon  of  un- 
tuned musical  instruments,  or  well-tuned  instruments 
incorrectly  played  upon, 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING. 

Physical  training  is  as  important  to  the  body  as  culture 
is  to  the  mind.  Bodily  strength  may  be  present  and  the 
individual  be  unable  to  use  that  strength  with  any  degree 
of  success.  It  requires  a  trained  hand  to  make  a  barrel  or 
a  boot,  and  it  requires  a  trained  mind  to  exhibit  the  high- 
est success  in  the  arrangement  and  expression  of  thoughts, 
and  in  the  successful  management  of  business.  A  person 
may  have  an  educated  mind  in  reference  to  music,  and  yet 
not  have  the  trained  hand  necessary  to  play  the  piano- 


DIVERSITY  OF  GIFTS.  219 

forte.  But  when  the  hand  is  trained  to  perform  the  dic- 
tates of  the  will,  and  the  mind  is  also  educated  in  musical 
science,  the  mere  sight  of  the  notes  will  send  the  hands  to 
the  requisite  keys  almost  instinctively.  We  become  ac- 
customed to  dancing,  or  walking,  or  using  the  knife  and 
fork,  so  that  we  do  it  without  thinking,  or  automatically, 
at  least  without  special  or  conscious  reflection.  In  reading 
we  are  not  conscious  of  seeing  every  letter,  but  let  a  letter 
be  wanting  or  defaced,  and  we  instantly  detect  it. 

DIVERSITY    OF    GIFTS. 

Persons  differ  in  their  capacity  to  learn  different  things. 
One  remembers  forms  and  can  recall  or  reproduce  them ; 
another  remembers  colors;  another  has  mechanical  judg- 
ment; another  has  the  power  of  remembering  words;  an- 
other remembers  places,  and  is  apt  in  geography;  still 
another  has  great  analytical  power,  and  is  fond  of  philo- 
sophical investigation;  another  is  abstract  and  metaphysi- 
cal ;  and  each  can  acquire  education  in  conjunction  with 
his  strongest  quality,  and  each  of  these  persons  may  pos- 
sess some  faculties  in  very  feeble  degree,  and  be  incapable 
of  any  considerable  advancement  in  these  respects.  In 
short,  every  person  may  be  a  genius  in  one  thing,  and  very 
weak  in  another.  Other  persons  there  are  who  are  well 
developed  in  every  faculty,  and  can  learn  one  thing  as 
well  as  another.  All  they  need  is  time  and  a  fair  oppor 
tunity.  Others,  again,  are  dull  in  everything.  What  they 
get  is  by  the  most  protracted  and  laborious  effort. 

Phrenology  reveals  this  mystery  of  the  mind  and  opens 
to  the  teacher  and  the  parent  two  important  considera- 


220  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

tions.  The  first  teaches  what  the  pupil  can  best  learn,  and 
in  what  he  can  gain  the  highest  degree  of  success.  The 
other  fact  teaches  the  weak  points,  and,  therefore,  what 
needs  special  cultivation. 

It  is  customary  to  put  ten  or  twenty  boys  in  a  class  of 
arithmetic,  and  the  fashion  has  obtained  of  not  allowing 
those  who  have  great  talent  in  arithmetic  to  advance  faster 
in  that  department  than  the  dullest.  The  class,  including 
the  brilliant  ones,  has  only  such  lessons  given  as  the  dullest 
can  master,  and  at  the  commencement  of  a  new  term  the 
whole  class  must  go  back  and  work  up  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  get  perhaps  a  third  of  the  way  through  the  book, 
and  so  repeat  for  years ;  whereas  the  boys  who  are  gifted 
in  figures  should  have  free  scope,  and  compass  the  whole 
science  as  early  as  may  be,  and  thus  have  time  to  labor  at 
something  else  at  which  they  may  not  be  quick.  The  am- 
bitious boy  who  happens  to  be  dull  in  any  one  department 
is  apt  to  overstudy  and  break  down  his  health,  because  he 
is  ashamed  to  be  behind  his  associates.  Still,  he  may  be 
able  to  excel  in  every  study  but  a  single  one. 

METAPHYSICS    NOT   PRACTICAL. 

From  the  earliest  ages  these  diversities  have  existed 
and  will  exist  forever.  Yet  the  metaphysician  before  he 
had  learned  by  experience  the  character  of  a  stranger,  was 
never  able  to  say  to  a  person,  "  You  can  do  this,  and  can 
not  do  that ;  can  learn  one  subject,  and  can  not  well  learn 
another."  They  have  adopted  the  principle,  that  what- 
ever a  person  could  do  in  one  respect  he  could  do  in  all 
respects,  and  thus  they  have  required  equal  excellence,  if 


METAPHYSICS  SLOT  PEACTICAL.  221 

not  from  each  individual  as  compared  with  all  others,  at 
least  from  each  person  equally  on  all  topics ;  and  only  by 
severe  and  protracted  trial  have  they  been  led  to  abandon 
this  fallacy  in  each  given  case.  Mental  philosophers, 
moreover,  have  taken  their  own  minds  and  dispositions  as 
the  basis  of  their  writings  and  philosophy.  What  they 
possessed  they  supposed  belonged  to  the  race  in  equal  pro- 
portion, if  not  in  equal  degree;  what  they  lacked,  they 
supposed  did  not  exist.  Hence  the  endless  diversities  of 
opinion  among  metaphysical  writers  in  regard  to  what 
constitutes  a  mental  faculty  or  power  of  the  mind.  One 
believes  man  has  conscience :  another,  that  he  has  none, 
but  that  he  is  induced  by  the  love  of  praise  to  do  that 
which  is  approved  as  just  and  proper  by  the  community. 
As  no  one  mental  philosopher  was  likely  to  have  a  perfect 
organization,  every  one  would  exhibit  in  his  writings  some 
truth  and  some  error.  Having  no  standard  to  judge  of 
mind  but  that  of  personal  consciousness,  the  world  was 
left  in  darkness  respecting  the  true  philosophy  of  the  mind 
until  the  system  of  Phrenology  was  discovered  by  Doctor 
Gall,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century.  Perhaps 
one  of  the  greatest  errors  of  the  mental  philosophers  con- 
sisted in  describing  the  combined  action  of  several  facul- 
ties as  a  single  power,  and  therefore  each  of  the  faculties 
recognized  by  them  was  likely  to  involve  several  faculties 
of  different  degrees  of  strength.  For  instance,  they  speak 
of  "  the  faculty  of  memory,"  when  there  are  no  less  than 
twelve  distinct  faculties  of  memory.  They  speak  of  "the 
faculty  of  judgment,"  when  there  are  nearly  as  many  fac- 
ulties of  judgment  as  of  memory.  They  speak  also  of  love 


222  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

as  a  distinct  power,  and  here  again  we  have  many  elements 
of  love.  One  loves  children,  but  not  friends;  another 
loves  friends  devotedly,  and  has  great  aversion  to  children. 
One  has  very  strong  benevolence,  but  little  social  affection ; 
and  so  on  through  all  the  possible  varieties  of  mental  de- 
velopment and  manifestation. 

With  such  a  system  of  mental  philosophy,  education 
must  be  a  matter  of  mere  speculation,  for  there  could  be 
no  rule  or  base  line.  Phrenology  teaches  the  relation  of 
the  brain  to  the  mind,  and  also  points  out  the  organs  of 
the  various  faculties,  and  shows,  by  means  of  determining 
the  quality  and  size  of  the  organs,  the  various  powers  pos- 
sessed by  each  person.  This  science  throws  a  flood  of 
light  upon  the  laws  of  mind,  and  accordingly  all  who  truly 
appreciate  it  as  a  system  of  truth  regard  it  as  being  of  the 
highest  practical  value  to  the  family,  to  the  scholar,  to  the 
legislator,  to  the  world. 

ERRORS    OF    EDUCATION. 

The  erroneous  methods  of  training  and  education  so 
common  in  the  community  lie  at  the  foundation  of  much 
of  the  sin  and  misery  that  scourges  the  world.  Mobs  and 
riots  are  made  up  of  persons  who  have  been  miseducated. 
In  all  large  cities  a  class  of  persons  may  be  found  who  are 
much  worse,  in  character  and  conduct,  than  heathen  sav- 
ages ;  not  because  they  were  born  with  dispositions  worse 
than  the  average  of  the  human  race,  but  because  they  be- 
came vicious  by  the  neglect  of  all  good  training  on  the 
one  hand,  and  by  persistent  training  in  that  which  is  evil 
on  the  other  hand.  Let  us  examine  the  subject  in  detail. 


ERRORS  OF  EDUCATION.  223 

The  average  training  of  the  best  communities  is  full  of 
error,  because  for  thousands  of  years  man  has  known  less 
of  the  laws  that  govern  his  complicated  physical  and  men- 
tal being  than  of  those  of  almost  any  other  class  of  phe- 
nomena. He  has  eaten,  drunk,  slept,  and  labored  as  ani- 
mal desire  or  necessity  or  perverted  habit  dictated,  with- 
out a  thought  of  the  fact  that  he  was  under  LAW,  and 
amenable  to  its  penalties.  The  thousand  bodily  ills  which 
he  is  made  heir  to,  by  misguided  animal  indulgences,  have 
dotted  the  cemetery  with  short  graves  and  peopled  the 
earth  with  millions  of  groaning  invalids. 

The  abuse  or  perversion  of  four  or  five  of  his  animal 
feelings  has  crowded  our  prisons  and  scourged  society. 
The  lawless  tyrant  who  crushes  the  freedom  of  a  hemis- 
phere and  abrogates  the  personal  immunities  of  his  race, 
displays  an  abusive  energy  of  Self-Esteem  and  Destruct- 
ivencss.  The  thronging  votaries  of  Bacchus,  who,  under 
the  dominion  of  perverted  Alimentiveness,  commit  ninety 
per  cent,  of  all  the  legally  cognizable  crimes  which  make 
our  prisons  populous,  is  a  voice  of  warning  whose  very 
thunder  tones  have  made  the  public  ear  callous.  The  per- 
version of  the  sexual  impulse,  a  mere  item  of  which  sends 
more  than  four  thousand  unchaste  women  to  the  New 
York  city  prison  in  a  single  year,  or  sixty-three  per  cent, 
of  all  the  women  imprisoned  in  that  institution,  affords  a 
glaring  proof  of  debasement  produced  by  the  abuse  of  thib 
single  faculty. 

What  is  the  antidote  for  these  and  several  unnamed 
mental  excesses  ?  Some  radical  defect  evidently  exists  in 
our  systems  of  education.  Man  is  too  fond  of  happiness 


224  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

thus  to  dash  the  cup  of  joy  from  his  lips,  and  quaff  the 
gall  and  wormwood  of  misery,  except  the  true  light  were 
extinguished,  or  burning  so  dimly  as  to  afford  no  aid  to 
his  wandering  footsteps,  or  so  distantly  as  to  mock  his  en- 
deavors to  reach  it.  Yet  schools,  pulpits,  libraries,  and 
periodicals  are  almost  as  plenteous  as  the  walking  monu- 
ments of  ignorance,  vice,  and  misery  which  they  have  been 
established  to  reform. 

Until  we  learn  the  true  philosophy  of  the  mind,  no  sys- 
tem of  teaching  or  preaching  can  be  devised  or  applied 
which  shall  be  fully  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  race. 
We  might  as  well  bleed  a  patient,  or  give  emetics  or 
cathartics  to  cure  corns  or  the  toothache,  or  turn  a  river 
into  a  city  to  extinguish  fire  in  the  housetops,  or  submerge 
a  watch  in  a  vat  of  oil  merely  to  lubricate  its  laboring 
points,  or  employ  a  blacksmith,  with  his  hammer  and 
tongs,  to  adjust  its  delicate  parts,  as  to  attempt  to  mold 
and  manage  mind,  practically  and  usefully,  without  under- 
standing its  laws,  and  adapting  to  it  such  influences  as  are 
in  harmony  with  its  nature  and  philosophy  of  action. 

We  may  preach  to  mankind,  in  general,  abstract  moral- 
ity; we  may  draw  a  picture  of  a  perfect  man,  and  anathe- 
matize all  who  do  not  attain  to  its  full  stature  and  propor- 
tion, till  time  itself  grows  old,  and  unless  we  learn  how  to 
trace  the  laws  of  mental  action,  and  specify  and  particular- 
ize the  steps  of  a  holy  life,  and  teach  men  what  are  their 
individual  besetting  sins,  and  how  "  to  mortify  the  deeds 
of  the  body,"  or  how  to  subdue  the  animal  propensities  to 
moral  and  intellectual  control;  until  this  shall  be  done, 
the  great  mass  of -the  race  will  be  slaves  of  sensuality,  and 


ERRORS  OF  EDUCATION.  225 

millions  who  are  seeking  rest,  and,  for  lack  of  knowledge, 
finding  none,  will  fail  of  that  bliss  for  which  they  sigh,  and 
instead  of  being  a  blessing  to  themselves  and  the  world, 
they  will  become  a  curse  to  both,  simply  because  they 
have  not  been  taught  to  know  and  obey  the  Creator's 
laws. 

Nathan  was  a  teacher  who  applied  the  remedy  to  the 
diseased  part.  "Thou  art  the  man!"  made  David  feel 
convicted,  and  the  clear  and  touching  illustration  of  his 
offense  awakened  conscience  and  produced  reformation. 
The  king  of  Israel  could  listen  to  the  abstract  recital  of 
gross  wrong,  and  send  forth  a  righteous  indignation 
against  it,  without  feeling  specially  and  personally  guilty; 
but  when  a  home-thrust  of  the  prophet  applied  the  case 
directly  to  himself,  he  quailed  before  it. 

AVe  teach  our  children  that  they  must  avoid  all  SIN,  and 
do  what  is  RIGHT  ;  but  this  is  like  requiring  them  to  visit 
a  particular  place  or  man  in  a  populous  city,  without  tell- 
ing them  the  street  and  number,  or  placing  them  on  the 
right  track  to  find  the  desired  object.  What  folly  to  take 
a  green  boy  from  the  street  into  a  jeweler's  shop,  and  re- 
quire him,  in  general  terms,  to  repair  a  watch,  without 
instruction  relative  to  its  mechanism  and  laws,  and  holding 
him  guilty  for  not  knowing  its  defects,  and  in  this  igno- 
rance blaming  him  for  doing  it  damage  and  failing  to  put 
it  in  running  order ! 

The  character  of  "  the  true  Christian  "  has  been  drawn 
in  glowing  colors,  many  times,  from  ten  thousand  pulpits, 
and  the  world  required  to  come  up  to  that  exalted  stand- 
ard ;  but  the  PROCESS  of  subduing  each  vicious  motive, 

10* 


226  -How  TO  EDUCATE. 

and  each  tendency  to  wrong,  and  the  manner  of  nurturing 
into  activity  every  elevated  moral  feeling,  are  not  practi- 
cally stated  step  by  step,  and  the  result  is,  that  the  hearer 
is  either  discouraged  from  endeavoring  to  achieve  such 
perfection,  or  remains  unmoved  relative  to  the  whole  sub- 
ject. It  is  like  exhibiting  a  sumptuous  repast  on  the 
second  floor  of  a  house,  and  requiring  the  famishing  to 
ascend  and  partake,  but  showing  them  no  stairs  on  which 
they  may  gain  the  desired  elevation.  The  entire  leap  they 
can  not  make,  however  much  they  may  desire  it.  Show 
them  the  gentle  ascent  by  easy 'steps,  and  a  child  or  a  crip- 
ple can  attain  it.  Precisely  so  in  morals,  in  respect  to 
that  elevating  and  reforming  process  which,  when  ma- 
tured, constitutes  the  worthy  character;  and  even  the 
Christian  life  and  character  is  to  be  attained  by  "  mortify- 
ing the  deeds  of  the  body,"  and  "  sowing  to  the  spirit," 
that  the  "house  of  David  may  grow  stronger,  and  the 
house  of  Saul  weaker." 

Man  must  be  taught  the  science  of  right  living,  feeling, 
and  thinking,  as  we  teach  a  child  the  rudiments  of  knowl- 
edge. He  creeps,  then  walks,  runs,  and  leaps.  He  does 
not  spring  into  full-fledged  perfection,  with  all  his  powers 
and  capabilities  under  well-instructed  command.  He  la- 
bors up  the  hill  of  knowledge  and  development  by  almost 
imperceptible  steps,  and,  without  comprehending  the  pro- 
gress of  the  slow  transition,  at  last  finds  himself  a  man  in 
organization  and  function,  physically  and  mentally.  Fact 
by  fact,  and  fiber  by  fiber,  like  the  slow  but  steady  con- 
struction of  the  ant-hill,  are  the  accessions  of  his  knowl- 
edge and  his  power  accumulated.  Nature  works  thus  in 


ERRORS  OF  EDUCATION.  227 

her  vast  laboratory  of  mineral  and  vegetable  production 
not  less  than  in  the  empire  of  animal  and  mental  life. 

In  imitation  of  the  lessons  which  nature  teaches,  let  us 
begin  with  the  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  MIND  in  the  reformation 
of  the  world.  Inform  the  learner  that  while  it  is  his  duty 
and  privilege  to  nourish  the  body,  yet  that  to  eat  and 
drink  is  not  the  chief  good  of  life;  that  the  entire  man 
may  be  debased  by  the  over-indulgence  of  appetite ;  that 
a  morbid  appetite  may  corrupt  the  whole  being  and  im- 
brute  all  the  higher  powers.  The  first  element  of  true 
reform  is  to  teach  man  how  to  nourish  the  body  so  as  to 
insure  health  and  the  highest  order  of  physical  and  mental 
development.  Nor  is  this  a  difficult  task.  Imitate  the 
bimplicity  of  nature,  under  the  light  of  physiology,  and 
the  work  is  done.  The  cow  enjoys  uninterrupted  health 
during  the  whole  period  of  her  life,  through  all  the  changes 
incident  to  her  natural  duties  and  functions ;  and  has  na- 
ture been  less  wise  and  beneficent  in  the  establishment  of 
the  laws  which  govern  man?  Equal  temperance,  order, 
and  uniformity  in  eating  and  drinking,  by  man,  would  in- 
sure equal  exemption  from  pain  and  disease. 

Perfect  health,  the  first  condition  of  human  happiness, 
being  thus  merited  and  established,  one  half  the  task  of 
training  the  animal  propensities  is  accomplished.  A  fe- 
vered body  causes  a  fevered  condition  of  all  the  mental 
functions,  and  especially  of  the  lower  feelings. 

A  man  or  child  indulges  the  feeling  of  anger,  and  con- 
scientiously believes,  while  under  its  dominion,  that  he  is 
really  outraged,  and  grossly  and  maliciously  wronged. 
He  verily  feels  that  he  is  "  doing  God  service  "  to  chastise 


223  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

the  object  of  his  displeasure.  Let  him  ascertain  enough 
of  the  philosophy  of  his  mind  to  know  that  he  is  under  the 
flaming  dominion  of  perhaps  a  single  faculty  (Combative- 
ness),  and  he  will  feel  less  inclination  to  submit  to  its 
sway.  But  while  he  believes  that  his  whole  mental  nature 
is  invaded,  and  that  all  he  is  as  a  man  is  suffering  the  in- 
dignity or  insult,  and  that  all  his  powers  of  mind  should 
be  engaged  to  repel  it,  he  loses  self-control,  and  is  impelled, 
as  by  a  moral  necessity,  to  act  the  part  of  a  maniac.  But 
teach  him  that  this  feeling  flows  from  the  excessive  activ- 
ity or  perversion  of  one  faculty,  and  that  its  exercise  will 
inflict  injury  on  others,  and  awaken  an  unhappy  state  of 
many  of  his  own  faculties,  and  you  awaken  in  him  a  power 
of  self-government  that  bids  the  troubled  storm  "  be  still." 

A  spirited  boy,  eight  years  old,  who  was  as  familiar 
with  Phrenology  as  with  his  nursery  tales,  came  running 
to  his  mother,  saying,  "  I  want  to  whip  James ;  what  or- 
gan is  it  which  makes  me  feel  so  ?  Is  it  Combativeness  ? 
I  wish  it  were  not  so  large,  because  I  like  him  when  I  am 
not  angry."  The  mother  replied,  "  You  must  try  to  feel 
kindly  toward  James,  my  son,  if  you  think  he  has  done 
wrong,  and  you  will  soon  get  over  your  ill-feeling,  and  you 
would  then  be  sorry  to  have  whipped  him  because  one  of 
your  organs  was  angry."  "  I  will  try  not  to  let  my  Com- 
bativeness make  me  do  wrong,"  said  the  little  fellow, 
wiping  off  the  tears  which  anger  bade  him  weep. 

Improper  customs  prevail  in  society,  and  Approbative- 
ness  leads  us  to  feel  miserably  if  we  can  not  conform  to 
the  fashion,  right  or  wrong.  Conformity  brings  gratifica- 
tion to  the  faculty,  in  despite  of  reason  and  conscience,  or, 


ERRORS  OF  EDUCATION.  229 

perhaps,  so  far  blinds  them  as  to  suborn  them  to  a  perjury 
of  their  nature,  to  testify  in  favor  of  the  abuse.  Now  we 
may  talk  of  the  "  vanity  of  the  world  "  forever,  and  we  do 
not  reach  the  point,  or  cure  the  evil  in  a  rational  manner. 
We  may  try  to  crush  the  feeling,  but  it  writhes  in  pain  and 
lives  in  agony.  The  faculty  should  be  understood  and 
enlightened,  and  it  will  yield  to  the  claims  of  reason  and  a 
sound  discretion.  Poverty  often  groans  for  a  "  decent  dis- 
play," and  it  is  felt  to  be  an  absolute  necessity ;  but  let  it 
be  shown  that  this  feeling  arises  from  ONE  faculty,  exces- 
sive in  degree  and  activity,  and  all  the  other  elements  of 
mind  will  be  arrayed  to  allay  it.  Privation,  dishonesty,  ^ 
and  theft,  even,  are  resorted  to  to  minister  to  this  faculty, 
under  the  corroding  impression  that  the  whole  mind  de- 
mands the  indulgence.  A  better  philosophy  would  correct 
this  error,  and  the  mind  resume  a  happy  submission  to  its 
condition. 

Hope  may  be  weak  and  Cautiousness  strong,  and  the 
person  is  a  slave  to  groundless  fears,  mental  depression, -f 
and  despondency.  Life  is  rendered  a  burden,  and  the 
future  promises  misery.  Many  such  persons  have  become 
maniacs  and  suicides  by  being  taught  that  the  Creator  was 
angry  with  them,  when,  could  they  know  that  their  organ- 
ization was  faulty,  and  not  their  fate,  they  might  have 
been  saved  from  such  sad  results.  The  mild  but  conscien- 
tious and  excessively  cautious  and  sensitive  Cowper,  in  his 
seasons  of  great  despondency,  was  instructed  by  his  pas- 
tor, Rev.  Mr.  Newton,  to  regard  himself  as  being  under 
the  displeasure  of  God  for  sins  of  omission  or  commission. 
Had  the  minister  been  a  physiologist  and  phrenologist,  he 


230  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

could  have  taught  the  misanthropic,  nervous  invalid  the 
cause  of  all  his  trouble,  and  saved  his  gentle  nature  from 
a  world  of  torture  little  less  than  mortal. 

Phrenology,  by  specifying  the  several  mental  powers, 
their  laws  of  action,  their  natural  and  unnatural  modes  of 
manifestation,  will  become  the  guiding  star  of  parental 
influence,  of  school  management,  of  pulpit  instruction,  of 
prison  discipline,  of  the  treatment  of  insanity,  of  legisla- 
tion, criminal  jurisprudence,  and  of  all  the  important  rela- 
tions of  life.  It  is  as  impossible  for  mind  to  remain  un- 
moved, when  properly  addressed,  as  it  is  for  a  perfect 
musical  instrument  to  refuse  its  tones  when  its  strings  are 
swept  by  a  master's  hand. 

If  our  premises  be  well  founded ;  if  what  man  requires 
to  know  is  the  true  philosophy  of  his  emotions  and  motives 
of  action ;  and  if  Phrenology  furnishes  that  knowledge  as 
no  other  system  of  teaching  can  possibly  do,  it  follows 
that  the  doctrines  of  Phrenology  should  be  sowed  broad- 
cast throughout  the  world. 

Wherever  there  is  mind  to  be  guided  and  illuminated, 
ignorance  to  be  dispelled,  vicious  propensities  to  be  curbed 
and  rightly  directed,  moral  feelings  dormant  for  want  of 
proper  culture,  ambition  and  laudable  emulation  either 
dying  of  disuse  or  fevered  by  abuse,  and  working  ruin  by 
misapplication,  an  energetic  intellect  rusting  for  want  of  a 
sphere  of  action,  or  wrenching  and  wearying  its  energies 
on  misdirected,  and  therefore  useless,  efforts,  seeking  truth, 
yet  ignorantly  chasing  false  lights,  THEN  AND  THERE  is 
the  true  phrenological  parish.  It  is  limited  in  its  aims  and 
sphere  of  usefulness  only  by  the  highest  and  broadest 


EEROES  or  EDUCATION.  23] 

wants  of  man.  A  perfect  development,  and  a  like  perfect 
education  of  all  the  faculties  of  every  human  being,  is  a 
consummation  that  must  be  achieved  before  its  mighty 
mission  will  be  fully  realized ;  nor  will  it  then  have  com- 
pleted its  work.  Like  the  glorious  sun,  which  matures 
one  generation  of  plants,  and  sends  them  to  mingle  with 
their  original  dust,  yet  rolls  onward,  shedding  its  light  and 
heat  to  produce  and  perfect  another  like  generation  of 
plants,  so  PHRENOLOGY  must  be  the  guiding  light  to  each 
successive  generation  of  men,  even  after  the  highest  human 
perfection  shall  have  been  attained,  to  the  end  of  time. 

This  must  be  the  work  of  ages  and  of  millions  of  labor- 
ers. Like  the  bees  in  a  hive,  all  the  members  of  the  hu- 
man family  should  be  co-workers.  Every  mother,  every 
school,  every  pulpit,  and  every  press  should  lend  its  aid  to 
tliis  work  of  progressive  reform.  Ten  thousand  competent 
lecturers  should  give  voice  to  these  truths,  while  every 
ramification  of  society  should  be  vocal  with  the  Greek 
motto,  "  KNOW  THYSELF,"  and  every  effort  be  aimed  at 
its  practical  accomplishment. 

IMPEDIMENTS   TO    EDUCATION. 

The  impediments  to  education  are  many  and  varied. 
In  order  to  discuss  this  subject  with  any  interest  to 
those  whom  it  most  concerns,  we  should  first  inquire, 
"  What  is  education  ?  "  and  though  the  answer  is  wide  in 
its  range,  as  well  as  minute  and  practical  in  its  application, 
we  may  take  some  general  views,  which  will  be  important 
to  parents,  teachers,  and  pupils. 

Education  should  be  viewed  in  two  aspects.     First,  the 


232  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

acquisition  of  knowledge  or  truth.  Secondly,  the  health- 
ful training  of  all  the  mental  faculties.  Diseased  or  warped 
minds  can  not  appreciate  truth  in  its  proper  light,  nor  can 
we,  with  diseased  bodies,  practice  those  truths  if  they  were 
properly  appreciated,  any  more  than  cracked  glass  can  re- 
flect light  clearly,  or  represent  the  true  image  of  things ; 
consequently,  with  a  diseased  organization,  or  one  in  a 
feverish,  irritable  condition,  no  just  education  can  be  ob- 
tained. The  drunken  man,  it  is  said,  sees  things  double — 
certain  it  is  that  almost  everything  is  distorted.  Many 
persons  by  dissipation,  by  over-mental  exercise,  by  excite- 
ment and  irritation  of  various  kinds,  are  as  ill  qualified 
to  acquire  a  correct  knowledge  of  science,  or  of  the  ex- 
ternal world,  as  the  drunkard  is  to  perceive  truth  cor- 
rectly. Such  minds  either  magnify  or  distort  whatever 
they  dwell  upon. 

If  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  merely  were  the  object 
of  education,  a  calm,  healthy,  well-balanced  state  of  the 
mind  and  body  would  be  of  the  first  importance ;  but  this 
is  not  the  only,  or  the  chief,  object  of  a  perfect  education. 
The  proper  training  of  the  mind  to  a  power  of  well-poised, 
correct,  and  consistent  action  is  paramount  Discipline  is 
education.  The  mechanic's  apprentice  learns  the  laws  of 
his  trade  and  how  to  use  the  tools,  but  does  not  make  up 
a  stock  of  goods  during  his  apprenticeship  with  which  to 
fill  his  own  shop,  to  remain  there  as  a  show  for  a  life- 
time. 

In  the  early  education  of  children  too  much  care  can 
not  be  bestowed  upon  their  physical  constitutions,  and  the 
comforts  and  appliances  by  which  a  healthful  condition  of 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  233 

the  body  and  brain  may  be  secured  and  sustained.  In 
many  places,  hundreds  of  children  are  crowded  into  com- 
paratively small  apartments,  which  are  over-heated  and  ' 
imperfectly  ventilated — if  indeed  any  attempt  at  all  be 
made  toward  ventilation.  The  consequence  is,  that  the 
brains  of  the  children  are  overcharged  with  venous  or 
unoxygenated  blood — their  minds  become  stupid — their 
nervous  systems  irritated,  so  that  they  can  neither  think 
nor  remember.  They  are  kept  still  for  a  great  length  of 
time,  when  it  is  their  nature  to  be  moving ;  and  parents 
who  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  keep  children  quiet  at  home 
or  at  church,  and  how  natural  it  is  for  them  to  be  in  mo- 
tion, should  endeavor  to  secure  such  school  arrangements 
as  will  give  their  children  an  opportunity  for  exercise  and 
pure  air.  We  believe  if  they  were  permitted  to  march 
around  the  school-room  once  in  half  an  hour,  that  they 
would  be  kept  in  an  orderly  condition  much  more  easily, 
and  their  studies  advanced,  and  their  health  promoted 
thereby.  Now  their  minds  are  over-taxed  with  excessive 
study — they  are  required  to  take  their  books  home,  and 
pour  over  their  lessons  till  bedtime — then  during  school- 
hours,  the  confinement  added  to  the  previous  home-study, 
completes  the  work  of  deranging  the  healthy  tone  of  their 
mental  and  physical  organization.  A  dyspeptical  tend- 
ency, nervousness,  and  irritability,  with  weakness  of  body, 
heat  of  brain,  and  confusion  of  mind,  are  among  the  re- ' 
suits.  This  driving  the  mind  beyond  the  power  of  the 
body  to  sustain  it,  increases  the  cerebral  development  at 
the  expense  of  the  bodily  health  and  mental  soundness ; 
and  as  a  result  we  often  hear,  at  the  funeral  of  these  briL 


234  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

liant  scholars,  the  old  heathen  proverb :  "Those  whom  the 
gods  love  die  young." 

After  parents  and  teachers  have  ignorantly  combined  to 
drive  the  growing  children  to  self-destruction  through 
over-mental  exercise  and  the  lack  of  healthful  bodily  ac- 
tion, they  receive,  at  the  funeral,  the  consolation  of  unphys- 
iological  clergymen,  who  repeat  words  which  are  true  in 
the  abstract,  but  which  are  not  at  all  true  in  respect  to  the 
cases  in  point,  viz. :  "  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath 
taken  away " — when  the  language  of  the  clergymen,  to 
be  applicable,  should  be,  "  The  Lord  gave,  and  endowed 
that  gift  with  a  well-balanced  constitution,  with  adaptation 
for  recreation  and  healthful  exercise.  He  also  gave  it 
lungs  that  it  might  have  pure  air,  which  has  been  denied 
it — muscles  for  exercise,  which,  to  a  great  extent,  has  not 
been  afforded — a  digestive  apparatus  and  circulatory  sys- 
tem, and  these  have  been  perverted  by  unhealthful  diet 
and  bad  habits.  He  gave  a  mind,  but  not  to  be  over- 
taxed ;  and  now,  since  through  misguided  ambition  and  ig- 
norant fondness  the  child  has  been  really  though  inno- 
cently murdered,  it  is  a  perversion  of  truth  to  say  that  the 
Lord  hath  taken  it  away."  In  one  respect  He  has  taken  it 
away — precisely  as  He  takes  away  a  man's  possessions, 
when,  through  carelessness,  they  are  allowed  to  be  set  on 
fire — just  as  He  robs  us  of  life  when  we  violate  the  laws 
of  health,  but  not  as  a  special  infliction  of  Providential 
indignation. 

If  any  children  chance  to  live  through  such  a  course  of 
early  treatment  and  training — if  they  have  constitution 
enough  to  resist  such  violent  and  repeated  attacks,  they 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  235 

are,  perchance,  entered  upon  a  collegiate  course.  Here 
they  meet  new  acquaintances — are  thrown  into  the  society 
of  "  Young  America,"  each  anxious  to  stand  in  the  front 
rank,  and  unwilling  to  be  outdone.  Any  who  have  not 
learned  to  smoke,  have  here  an  opportunity  and  solicita- 
tion to  do  so.  Those  who  have  not  acquired  the  habit,  or 
whose  unperverted  nervous  systems  revolt  at  such  an  out- 
rage, are  called  weak,  effeminate,  and  unmanly;  conse- 
quently, learning  to  smoke  is  one  of  the  first  lessons  of  the 
Freshman.  We  need  not  say,  for  any  careful  observer  can 
ascertain  the  fact  for  himself,  that  nearly  all  college  stu- 
dents become  inveterate  smokers,  and  thus  seriously  injure 
their  health  and  constitution.  A  leading  illustrated 
paper  recently  gave  a  large  engraving  designed  to  illus- 
trate "  College  life,"  or  students  on  the  day  of  commence- 
ment at  Yale  College.  In  a  group  of  students  under  the 
classic  elms  of  New  Haven,  nearly  every  one  of  them 
was  represented  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth. 

Now,  no  one  can  have  a  healthy  brain,  and  take  just 
views  of  life  and  truth,  when  thus  deeply  under  the  influ- 
ence of  tobacco.  It  is  rank  poison,  and  every  habitual 
smoker  takes  enough  of  this  poison  every  day  to  kill  a 
man  who  is  not  accustomed  to  it ;  and  yet  many  persons 
of  good  general  sense  think  it  does  not  injure  their  health 
or  warp  their  minds. 

What  would  be  thought  of  a  public  sentiment  which 
would  tolerate  in  our  academies  and  colleges  the  constant 
and  excessive  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  among  the  students  ? 
Yet  tobacco  is  used  almost  universally  by  them,  and  its 
use  is  sanctioned  by  parents,  professors,  and  public  senti- 


236  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

ment — at  least,  if  not  sanctioned,  no  direct  effort  is  made 
on  the  part  of  either  to  check  its  growth  or  uproot  it. 
This  is  one  of  the  greatest  impediments  to  education. 

If  intemperance  among  the  students  ceased  with  the  use 
of  tobacco,  the  contemplation  of  their  condition  would  be 
less  painful.  In  some  cities  where  respectable  colleges  are 
located,  drinking-houses  are  maintained  exclusively  by  the 
students.  There  they  can  take  their  morning  "  nipper  "  or 
their  noon-day  "  bitter  "  on  the  sly,  and  have  a  midnight 
carousal  or  regular  "  spree  "  at  their  pleasure.  Can  we 
wonder  that  education  is  so  superficial,  so  warped,  and 
that  professional  men  thus  educated  should  be  a  disgrace 
to  their  age  and  nation  when  they  come  to  take  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs  ?  Who  can  expect  other  than  fiery 
debates  in  legislative  halls,  and  rows  at  elections,  and 
dueling  among  editors  and  educated  men,  when  all  their 
passions  are  perverted  and  their  nervous  energies  are  set 
on  fire  by  alcoholic  liquors,  tobacco,  carousings,  and  mid- 
night brawlings  during  their  entire  college  course  ? 

Many  students,  who  have  not  enough  of  the  heroic  ele- 
ments in  their  constitution  to  lead  them  to  those  out- 
rageous acts  during  their  college  term  or  in  public  life, 
have  become  victims  to  an  over-wrought  nervous  constitu- 
tion in  other  directions ;  some  have  become  insane,  others 
demented,  some  excessively  timid  and  nervous ;  others  sink 
into  a  melancholy,  good-for-nothing  state  of  mind ;  not  a 
few  have  heart-disease ;  and  thousands  are  afflicted  with 
dyspepsia,  bronchitis,  and  all  the  accumulated  ills  that 
outraged  human  nature  is  thus  made  heir  to. 

Few  persons  are  aware,  perhaps,  that  gambling  is  a  col- 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  237 

lege  vice,  and  that  its  extent  is  enormous.  The  poor,  for- 
tunately, can  not  indulge  in  this  vice  to  any  considerable 
extent,  and  the  same  is  true,  more  or  less,  in  respect  to  in- 
temperance in  its  various  forms ;  certain  it  is,  that  to  the 
poor  the  world  is  mainly  indebted  for  distinguished  states- 
men, able  clergymen,  and  successful  physicians;  and  when 
we  recount  the  fact  that  a  certain  eminent  man  was  obliged 
to  teach  school,  or  another  had  to  black  the  boots  of  his 
fellow-students,  or  to  be  supported  at  college  by  charity, 
we  are  not  generally  aware  that  by  so  doing  we  are  cast- 
ing a  serious  reflection  upon  the  habits  and  customs  of 
college  life  respecting  students  who  have  money  enough 
to  procure  the  means  of  indulgence  and  ruinous  dissipa- 
tion. Poverty  is  a  blessing,  in  so  far  as  it  prevents  the 
poor  from  running  riot  like  the  sons  of  the  rich.  Licen- 
tiousness in  various  forms,  especially  secret  vice,  is  also  a 
grievous  sin  in  schools  and  colleges.  On  this  important 
subject  we  can  not  here  speak  fully,  but  refer  the  reader 
to  the  writings  of  eminent  men  on  the  subject,  remarking 
as  we  pass,  that  this  sends  to  the  grave  its  thousands  of 
students,  and  blasts  the  hopes  and  prospects  of  other  thou- 
sands, who  having  better  constitutions  or  having  sunk  less 
deeply  than  some,  are  permitted  to  drag  out  a  miserable 
existence,  a  curse  to  themselves  and  to  their  friends. 

These  are  mighty  impediments  to  a  perfect  education, 
but  neither  pulpits,  newspapers,  public  lecturers  or  others 
feel  specially  called  upon  to  sound  the  alarm  on  all  theso 
great  evils.  Parents  feel  anxious,  but  their  fondness  for 
their  children  leads  them  to  suppose  that  however  others 
may  be,  their  darling  boy  will  avoid  all  these  evils.  They 


238  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

have  set  him  a  good  example — they  have  decried  smok- 
ing, and  drinking,  and  other  modes  of  vice,  but  while  they 
have  kept  his  outward  morals  uncontaminated  under  their 
roof,  they  have  induced  in  their  child  a  feverish  state  of 
the  brain  and  nervous  system  while  in  the  common  school, 
so  that  he  is  open  to  temptation  on  every  hand  the  mo- 
ment he  is  removed  from  under  parental  restraint  and 
placed  within  the  influence  of  young  associates,  and  before 
they  are  aware  of  it,  he  too  is  gone,  past  recovery.  No 
wonder  that  such  parents  should  seek  consolation  even 
under  a  false  statement,  that  "  it  is  the  Lord's  doings." 

If  every  person's  tomb-stone  were  to  record  the  true 
cause  of  death,  what  a  sad  picture  would  they  present, 
and  what  a  lesson  would  they  teach  !  how  different,  alas ! 
from  the  eulogiums  inscribed  on  them  by  fond  friends,  and 
repeated  at  funeral  sermons  and  by  the  public  press.  In- 
stead of  reading,  "  Removed  by  the  providence  of  God," 
or,  "Called  away  from  earthly  care  and  sorrow  to  the 
fruition  of  his  reward,"  we  should  read :  "  Killed  himself 
by  the  use  of  tobacco." — "  Shortened  his  life  twenty  years, 
and  thus  robbed  his  family  and  the  world  of  his  usefulness 
by  excessive  eating  and  the  free  use  of  wine." — "Died  of 
heart-disease  and  apoplexy,  caused  by  coffee  and  cigars." 
— "  Committed  gradual  suicide  by  over-study  at  school, 
through  ambition  to  excel,  and  by  neglecting  proper  exer- 
cise, and  afterward  over-working  the  brain  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  duties  of  his  profession." — "  Went  to  the  grave 
thirty  years  sooner  than  he  should  have  done,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  sordid  thirst  for  money,  and  broke  down  in 
making  haste  to  be  rich." — "  Died  of  taking  opium  for  ten 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  239 

years,  though  nobody  knew  it." — "Died  of  fashionable 
laziness,  combined  with  whalebone  and  corsets." 

When  will  people  learn  to  live  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
deserve  better  epitaphs,  and  go  to  the  grave  full  of  years, 
and  ripe  in  all  virtue  and  usefulness  ? 

To  EDUCATE  is  to  draw  out  or  call  forth  the  faculties. 
To  TRAIN  a  faculty  is  to  guide,  control,  and  regulate  its 
action  until  that  action  becomes  habitual.  Now  to  edu- 
cate or  to  train  a  child,  a  dog,  a  horse,  or  anything  else, 
it  would  seem  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  under- 
stand perfectly  the  character  of  the  being  to  be  educated 
or  trained.  If  a  man  were  to  undertake  to  drive  a  team 
of  horses  as  many  cruel  men  drive  oxen,  there  would  not 
be  one  pair  of  horses  in  a  million  that  would  not  declare 
war  against  the  master,  and  either  conquer  him  or  run 
away  from  him.  Moreover,  horses  differ  from  each  other 
almost  as  much  as  they  do  from  oxen  in  disposition.  One 
horse  can  be  managed  only  by  careful,  tender  treatment ; 
another  horse  is  stiff-headed,  coarse  in  qualities  and  dispo- 
sition, and  seems  to  require  to  be  treated  with  a  determ- 
ined will  and  a  stiff  hand.  Some  oxen  will  bear  club- 
bing over  the  head  and  almost  constant  whipping,  while 
others  would  resent  such  barbarous  treatment  and  become 
entirely  unmanageable  by  such  a  driver.  The  same  is 
true  of  dogs  and  every  other  sentient  being  that  serves 
man. 

The  mind  of  man  is  more  complicated  and  refined  in  its 
quality  and  character  than  that  of  the  lower  animals,  and 
requires  a  correspondingly  nice  and  complicated  mode  of 
treatment ;  and  if  any  one  fact  stands  forth  more  than 


240  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

another  in  connection  with  this  subject,  it  is  the  need  of  as 
complete  and  thorough  a  knowledge  of  the  being  to  be 
educated  as  can  be  obtained.  That  this  knowledge  is  im- 
perfect among  parents  and  teachers  needs  no  proof.  That 
it  needs  to  be  increased  ten-fold  will  not  be  questioned ; 
nor  will  it  be  questioned  by  any  who  have  given  the  sub- 
ject careful  attention,  that  Phrenology,  as  an  exponent  of 
the  mental  nature  of  man,  stands  forth  unequaled  for  its 
simplicity,  comprehensiveness,  and  availability.  We  should 
hardly  be  disputed  though  we  were  to  say  that  it  was  the 
only  system  of  mental  philosophy  which  has  any  claim  to 
confidence  as  a  practical  aid  in  gaining  a  knowledge  of, 
and  exerting  a  direct  influence  over,  the  human  mind. 

Phrenology  points  out  the  capabilities  of  each  person, 
what  qualities  require  to  be  developed,  and  what  passions 
repressed.  It  enables  us  to  discriminate  with  certainty 
between  the  proud  and  the  humble,  the  turbulent  and  the 
peaceable,  the  courageous  and  the  cowardly,  the  generous 
and  the  selfish,  the  thrifty  and  the  thriftless,  the  passion- 
ate and  the  cool-headed,  the  hopeful  and  the  desponding, 
the  cautious  and  the  reckless,  the  cunning  and  the  artless, 
the  talkative  and  the  taciturn,  the  reasoning  and  the  weak- 
minded,  the  ideal  and  the  practical,  the  witty  and  the  se- 
date, those  who  are  qualified  for  mechanics  and  those  who 
would  fail  of  success  in  that  department,  those  who  are 
distinguished  for  the  various  kinds  of  memory  and  those 
whose  minds  lose  their  knowledge  about  as  fast  as  it  is 
gained.  Phrenology  teaches,  therefore,  what  arts  and 
sciences,  what  trades  and  occupations,  what  particular 
branches  of  study  a  person  can  best  succeed  in,  and  lays 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  241 

the  foundation  for  domestic  training  as  well  as  scholastic 
education.  It  not  only  points  out  the  true  theory  of 
prison  discipline,  and  furnishes  the  only  sound  basis  for  the 
treatment  of  insanity,  but  teaches  us  what  kind  of  civil 
and  criminal  laws  are  required  for  the  proper  guidance 
and  government  of  mankind,  and  last,  though  not  least,  it 
gives  a  nobler  elucidation  of  man's  innate  moral  powers 
than  ever  before  had  been  known  to  the  world. 

At  present  man  is  but  half  educated  at  best,  and  that 
education  has  been  badly  conducted,  because  the  first 
principles  of  the  mind  have  not  been  generally  understood. 
Thousands  have  spent  the  formatory  period  of  their  lives 
sweating  over  the  classics  or  mathematics,  or  vainly  en- 
deavoring to  become  qualified  for  some  profession  or 
mechanical  trade,  and  have  failed  to  win  respectability  or 
secure  their  daily  bread,  and  are  thus  made  wretched  for 
life. 

Some  of  these  persons  might  have  had  suitable  vo- 
cations and  become  eminent,  or  at  least  respectable,  could 
they  have  had  in  childhood  such  an  analysis  of  their  char- 
acter and  talents  as  Phrenology  would  have  afforded,  and 
been  thereby  directed  to  appropriate  occupations.  Many 
persons  utterly  fail  to  succeed  in  a  pursuit  to  which  selfish 
influences  and  ignorance  have  devoted  them.  After  a 
thorough  apprenticeship  and  ten  of  the  best  years  of  their 
lives,  by  accident  or  in  despair  of  success  they  have 
adopted  a  business  without  an  apprenticeship,  but  a  busi- 
ness which  required  the  exercise  of  another  class  of  facul- 
ties, and  they  have  triumphed,  not  only  over  the  want  of 
training  and  experience,  but  over  the  embarrassments  of 

11 


242  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

their  condition,  and  have  run  rapidly  up  to  distinction  and 
wealth. 

"We  have  many  illustrations  of  ill-chosen  pursuits  and 
of  changing,  even  in  middle  life,  with  decided  success. 
One  of  the  best  portrait  painters  that  a  neighboring  city 
can  boast  was  raised  a  carpenter,  and  though,  he  was  al- 
ways sketching  with  his  pencil  on  the  white  boards  upon 
his  bench  the  portraits  of  persons  and  the  outlines  of  ob- 
jects, he  still  had  no  settled  idea  that  he  possessed  artistic 
talent.  He  happened  to  be  at  a  phrenological  lecture  of 
ours  where  he  had  an  examination,  and  was  informed  that 
he  was  naturally  adapted  to  be  a  painter.  He  took  the 
hint,  laid  aside  the  plane,  and  took  up  the  pallet.  Some 
ten  years  later  we  met  him,  after  he  had  been  called  upon 
to  paint  the  portraits  of  three  Governors  of  his  native 
State  for  its  public  gallery.  He  lived  in  a  fine  house,  had 
acquired  position,  and  was  in  a  fair  way  to  pecuniary  inde- 
pendence. He  was  again  brought  forward  for  examina- 
tion in  public,  and  a  similar  statement  in  regard  to  his 
talents  was  made,  when  he  invited  the  writer  to  his  house 
and  gave  a  history  of  his  career,  and  of  the  former  exam- 
ination, and  openly  and  decidedly  gave  Phrenology  the 
credit  for  advising  him  to  leave  a  pursuit  which  was  odious 
to  him,  and  to  adopt  one  which  has  become  not  only  a 
source  of  success,  but  the  pleasure  and  pride  of  his  life. 

In  1839,  when  Mr.  Combe  was  lecturing  in  Philadel- 
phia, he  visited  the  House  of  Refuge  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  the  character  of  the  institution.  He  was  re- 
quested to  examine  the  heads  of  several  of  the  inmates, 
and  to  give  his  opinion  of  each  in  writing.  One  girl, 


IMPEDIMENTS  TO  EDUCATION.  243 

named  Hannah  Porter,  he  described  as  being  naturally 
tidy,  a  lover  of  order,  and  capable  of  excelling  in  music. 
After  the  subjects  had  retired,  the  descriptions  were  read. 
Mrs.  Shurlock,  the  matron,  remarked  to  Mr.  Combe  that 
he  had  made  a  signal  failure  relative  to  Hannah;  "for," 
said  she,  "  she  is  the  most  slatternly  person  in  the  house ; 
and  notwithstanding  all  our  efforts  to  reform  her  in  this 
respect,  she  continues  in  her  disorderly  and  unclean  habits. 
She  has  been  turned  away  many  times  from  good  families 
where  she  has  lived,  because  of  her  filthiness,  and  she  is  re- 
garded as  incorrigible  by  all  who  know  her.  Relative  to 
her  musical  talent,  although  nearly  all  in  the  institution 
sing  daily  at  family  worship,  she  has  never  been  known  to 
sing  a  note,  and  seems  to  take  no  interest  in  it." 

"  I  can  not  help  it,"  calmly  responded  Mr.  Combe ;  "  she 
has  large  Order  and  Ideality,  and  is  capable  of  exercising 
taste  and  being  neat.  She  has  Time  and  Tune  large,  and 
is  capable  of  learning  music.  She  has  the  developments, 
and  they  can  be  called  out"  After  Mr.  Combe  had  re- 
tired, the  girl  was  called,  when  the  matron  read  the  de- 
scription to  her,  and  remarked,  "  Now,  Hannah,  the  gen- 
tleman says  you  can  be  neat  and  learn  music,  and  I  wish 
you  to  try  and  prove  whether  he  is  true  in  his  opinion  or 
not."  Mrs.  Shurlock  has  informed  us  that  the  girl  did  try 
to  sing,  and  in  less  than  twelve  months  became  an  excel- 
lent singer,  and  the  leader  of  the  choir  in  the  chapel  of  the 
institution.  She  also  within  the  same  time  became  one  of 
the  most  neat  and  orderly  in  the  same  household,  and 
these  habits  still  continue  with  her  years  after  her  mar- 
riage and  settlement  in  life.  Had  not  this  examination 


244  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

been  made  to  encourage  alike  the  girl  in  her  efforts,  and 
her  managers  to  take  the  proper  means  to  call  out  and 
train  these  faculties,  she  would  have  remained  a  careless, 
slatternly  person,  and  in  respect  to  music  have  been  mute 
for  life.  Now,  neatness  and  order  are  a  blessing  to  her- 
self and  family,  and  her  musical  talent  lends  a  charm  and 
grace  to  her  life.  This  flat  contradiction  of  the  phrenolo- 
gist, which  her  previous  life  and  character  had  presented, 
left  him  no  consolation  but  the  belief  in  the  correctness 
of  the  science  and  in  the  justness  of  his  conclusions ;  and 
our  informant,  the  worthy  matron,  appeared  to  take  great 
pleasure  in  stating  this  triumph  of  the  science,  and  re- 
joiced in  the  practical  advantages  derived  from  Mr. 
Combe's  predictions,  which,  at  the  time,  gave  him  no  little 
discredit. 

Phrenology  opens  to  the  teach'er  and  to  the  parent  the 
primary  elements  of  the  mind.  It  informs  them  what  are 
the  native  talents  and  the  weaknesses  of  the  child,  and  the 
proper  mode  of  awakening  dormant  powers  to  activity  as 
well  as  how  to  depress  those  which  are  too  strong.  It  not 
only  teaches  the  dispositions  of  individuals,  but  what  mo- 
tives to  present  to  those  different  dispositions  to  bring 
forth  in  them  what  is  good  and  to  restrain  that  which  is 
bad,  and  how  to  induce  obedience  and  impart  instruction 
successfully  to  those  who  are  unlike  in  character  and  tal- 
ents, though  they  may  belong  to  the  same  family  or  stand 
in  the  same  class  at  school.  The  contradictory  traits 
of  children  may  be  played  upon  by  the  teacher  or  the 
mother  who  understands  the  true  mental  philosophy,  with 
an  ease  and  facility  scarcely  excelled  by  the  skillful  pianist 


ALIMENTIVE^ESS — HUNGEK — FOOD.       245 

in  evoking  from  the  instrument  the  most  delicate  harmo- 
nies, though  the  unskillful  hand  may  make  that  instrument 
give  forth  the  wildest  jargon  and  discord. 

We  have  endeavored  to  define  what  we  understand  by 
the  term  Education.  We  have  shown  that  it  embraces 
physical  training,  or  the  development  of  the  body ;  also, 
the  development  of  the  different  mental  faculties,  and  their 
excess,  and  also  their  perversion  by  improper  training. 
We  have  suggested  some  of  the  errors  of  the  mental  phi- 
losophers in  treating  upon  the  mind,  and  the  great  uncer- 
tainty of  their  systems  as  a  guide  to  correct  ideas  of  edu- 
cation. We  now  propose  to  offer  some  practical  hints  for 
the  application  of  Phrenology  to  domestic  training  and  to 
scholastic  education. 

ALIMENTIVENESS  — HUNGER  — FOOD. 

Man  is  an  animal  with  bodily  wants,  and  he  has  a  class 
of  propensities  which  instinctively  prompt  him  to  provide 
for  those  wants.  This  he  does  in.  the  first  place  without 
thought  or  reason ;  but  subsequently,  as  he  is  ripened  and 
instructed  by  experience,  he  employs  his  intelligence  and 
his  energy  as  a  means  of  gratifying  the  lower  elements  of 
his  nature. 

The  first,  and,  indeed,  the  most  imperative,  of  human 
wants  is  nourishment.  The  new-born  infant,  prompted  by 
this  natural  hunger,  intuitively  seeks  its  natural  food  at 
I  IK*  very  threshold  of  its  being,  as  a  means  of  building  up 
the  growth  and  supplying  the  waste  which  exercise  and 
labor  induce.  Nature  has  kindly  planted  in  us,  as  a  part 
of  the  mental  nature  of  the  individual,  the  faculty  of  Ali- 


246  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

mentiveness,  which  renders  eating  and  drinking  not  only 
a  duty,  but  a  pleasure.  To  eat  right  as  to  quality  and 
quantity  of  food,  including  the  proper  time  for  eating  it,  is 
one  of  the  most  important  lessons  relating  to  our  physical 
being.  It  is  a  most  difficult  part  of  our  education,  and  one 
which  is,  perhaps,  more  frequently  neglected  than  any 
other  which  falls  within  the  sphere  of  every-day  life. 

ANIMAL   INSTINCT. 

The  lower  animals  seldom  exhibit  anything  which  ap- 
pears like  reason  in  respect  to  their  manner  of  eating  and 
drinking,  but  they  are  guided  by  what  may  be  called  in- 
stinct— mere  appetite.  In  respect  to  the  selection  of  their 
food,  they  usually  reject  whatever  is  detrimental  or  nox- 
ious, and  always  eat  the  best  they  can  get — that  which  is 
most  pleasing  to  the  appetite.  Though  a  dog  may  have 
lived  ten  years  in  a  family,  and  have  been  fed  on  bread, 
vegetables,  and  meat  every  day  of  his  life,  and  perhaps 
never  had  food  in  such  quantity  as  to  have  any  surplus, 
yet  he  will  always  devour  first  the  meat,  then  such  bread 
as  may  have  butter  on  it,  then  such  vegetables  as  may 
have  come  in  contact  with  gravy,  and  last,  when  his  appe- 
tite is  nearly  satisfied,  he  reluctantly  devours  the  dry 
bread,  the  most  unsavory  part  of  the  meal.  A  child  will 
do  precisely  the  same  thing — will  eat  the  meat,  the  butter, 
the  delicious  fruit  first,  and  cry  for  more ;  but  if  denied, 
will  then  turn  to  take  that  which  is  less  agreeable  to  its 
appetite.  But  as  a  child  increases  in  age,  and  comes  under 
the  dominion  of  his  thinking,  reasoning  intellect,  he  sub- 
jects, to  some  extent,  the  faculty  of  Alimentiveness  to  the 


TRAINING  OF  APPETITE.  247 

control  of  his  judgment.  He  does  not  eat  the  dessert  first, 
nor,  like  a  child  or  an  animal,  gnaw  the  butter  from  his 
bread,  and  eat  all  his  meat,  and  afterward  the  bread  and 
vegetables ;  but  he  eats  the  more  important  articles — that 
which  with  a  keen  appetite  will  taste  good — and  reserves 
the  delicacies  for  the  close  of  the  meal,  when  his  appetite 
for  hearty,  strong  food  has  been  satisfied.  The  dog,  as 
we  have  said,  never  learns  this  lesson  by  age,  but  seizes 
the  most  delicious  morsel  first,  and  makes  wry  faces  at 
other  food  at  the  close  of  his  meal 

TRAINING  OP   APPETITE. 

While  the  child  is  young  he  exhibits,  as  we  have  said, 
in  the  exercise  of  appetite,  the  merely  animal  impulses. 
During  this  season  he  should  be  guided  and  controlled  by 
the  experience  or  wisdom  of  the  parent ;  and  our  impres- 
sion is  that  there  are  very  few  children  who  are  qualified 
to  govern  their  appetite  and  exercise  it  properly  until  they 
have  reached  the  sixteenth  year ;  and  parents  can  not  do 
their  children  a  greater  injustice  than  to  allow  them  to  eat 
and  drink  as  they  please  in  regard  to  kind  and  quantity 
until  they  are  old  enough  to  choose  the  right  food,  and  to 
take  it  in  the  right  manner.  What  shall  we  say,  then,  of 
parents  and  nurses  who  appeal  to  appetite  as  a  means  of 
governing,  managing,  and  restraining  children,  who  prom- 
ise to  the  already  excited  appetite  some  choice  delicacy, 
something  the  appetite  craves,  with  a  view  to  subject  the 
turbulent  faculties  of  the  child  to  temporary  obedience  ? 
This  method  of  training  produces  a  feverish  excitement  in 
Alimentiveness,  which,  as  the  child  matures,  increases  in 


248  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

strength  until  it  will  not  be  satisfied  with  ordinary  gratifi- 
cation. 

INTEMPERANCE. 

Society  has  wept  and  mourned  over  the  desolations  of 
perverted  appetite  until  the  entire  doctrine  of  Total  De- 
pravity has  appeared  to  be  exemplified  through  the  abuses 
of  the  single  faculty  of  Alimentiveness.  Children  some- 
times inherit  from  parents  badly  trained  in  appetite  a  ten- 
dency to  these  abuses ;  and  what  can  we  expect  from  the 
children  of  parents  who  have  been  ignorantly  drugged  by 
tea,  coffee,  tobacco,  and  alcoholic  stimulants,  or  'surfeited 
with  rich,  unwholesome,  concentrated  diet  ?  It  is  within 
the  memory  of  all  persons  of  middle  life  when  society  was 
first  awakened  to  the  fact  that  alcoholic  stimulants  were 
not  only  unnecessary,  but  alarmingly  destructive  to  health  ; 
but  very  few  persons  of  extensive  culture  and  good  com- 
mon sense  have  yet  learned  that  tobacco,  strong  tea  and 
coffee,  and  highly-seasoned  food  are  almost  equally  de- 
structive to  health  and  happiness.  It  is  comparatively  but 
a  few  years  since  dyspepsia  became  known  in  the  United 
States.  We  used  to  laugh  at  the  accounts  of  gout  among 
well-fed  English  people ;  but  now  our  people,  by  abuses 
of  appetite,  are  scourged  with  dyspepsia  in  the  room  of 
gout,  a  luxury  pertaining  chiefly  to  our  cousins  over  the 
water.  And  what  is  dyspepsia  but  a  breaking  down  of 
the  tone  of  the  stomach,  and  inability  to  digest  the  food 
and  work  it  up  into  nourishment  for  the  brain  and  body  ? 
Alcoholic  liquors  set  the  nervous  system  on  fire,  and  make 
man  a  maniac  and  a  demon  or  a  fool.  Its  effects  are, 
therefore,  more  palpable  than  those  which  rise  from  other 


IKTEMPEKANCE.  249 

forms  of  intemperance ;  but  these  just  as  surely  sap  the 
foundations  of  health,  gradually  shatter  the  nerves,  and 
derange  all  the  organic  functions,  if  indulged  in  to  excess. 
Let  the  reader  look  among  his  neighbors,  and  how  com- 
mon will  he  find  complaints  of  dyspepsia,  of  a  torpid  state 
of  the  liver,  of  scrofula,  of  palpitation  of  the  heart,  and 
what  is  called  nervousness.  These  produce  irritability, 
despondency,  loss  of  memory,  insanity,  and  death  in  vari- 
ous ways.  Mankind  has  had  a  sore  lesson  on  the  abuses 
of  appetite ;  and  those  who  may  reform  will  show  their 
wisdom  by  obeying  the  teachings  of  these  sore  experi- 
ences ;  but  those  will  be  wriser  still  who  learn  temperance 
by  their  example,  and  by  studying  the  laws  of  their  being. 
Though  it  may  take  several  generations  of  temperate 
parentage,  and  a  thorough  application  of  correct  training, 
to  rid  mankind  of  the  deleterious  effects  of  past  imtemper- 
ance,  yet  who  will  be  dissuaded  from  the  effort  by  the 
difficulty  of  the  case,  or  consider  it  a  waste  of  time,  when 
so  great  a  result  is  at  stake  ?  We  sometimes  think,  not- 
withstanding tens  of  thousands  have  discarded  the  use  of 
alcoholic  liquors,  that  we  are  still  an  intemperate  people. 
Many  have  given  up  the  bottle,  but  only  have  changed 
the  form  of  stimulant  to  coffee  or  tobacco,  or  both.  After 
listening  to  a  lecture  on  Temperance  from  a  distinguished 
advocate  of  the  cause,  we  found  him  smoking  at  the  hotel, 
which  he  did  constantly  for  nearly  two  hours.  We  in- 
quired of  him  why  he  did  so,  and  he  remarked,  that  hav- 
ing given  up  liquor,  which  he  had  used  to  excess,  he  felt 
that  he  must  have  something  to  keep  his  nerves  braced  up. 
Since  this  he  relapsed  into  the  habit  of  drinking,  and  died 


250  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

of  delirium  tremens.  He  changed  the  habit,  but  did  not 
reform  the  perverted  appetite,  and  his  relapse  was  a  very 
natural  consequence.  As  a  matter  of  health,  we  hardly 
know  which  is  the  worse  practice  of  the  two.  Though 
smoking  may  not  make  a  man  neglect  or  abuse  his  family, 
it  sends  thousands  of  men  annually  to  untimely  graves, 
leaving  widows  in  poverty,  and  orphans  with  nerves  all  on 
fire  as  an  unhealthy  inheritance  from  the  short-lived  father. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  nearly  all  who  use  alcoholic 
liquors  also  use  tobacco,  and  that  tens  of  thousands  smoke 
and  chew  who  regard  themselves  as  temperate  men,  it  will 
be  seen  that  tobacco  is  working  more  ruin  to  health  and 
happiness  than  alcoholic  liquors ;  and  the  most  melancholy 
fact  in  the  case  is,  that  men  are  not  aware  of  it ;  nor  does 
society  stamp  its  use  with  disgrace,  as  it  does  that  of  alco- 
holic liquors. 

The  whole  system  of  intemperance  is  a  wrong  training 
and  use  of  this  primary  faculty,  Alimentiveness.  Mothers 
and  nurses  may  not  be  aware  that  they  are  training  up 
their  children  to  some  form  of  intemperance  when  they 
nurse  or  feed  them  every  time  they  are  fretful  or  uneasy. 
Some  mothers  we  know  who  carry  cakes,  candies,  and  the 
like  in  their  pockets,  wherever  they  take  their  children, 
and  an  appeal  to  appetite  with  some  such  delicacy  seems 
to  be  their  chief  means  of  exercisinor  influence  over  their 

o 

children.  Thus  treated,  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  the 
unnatural  fever  in  the  whole  digestive  apparatus  should  be 
produced,  and  also  in  that  organ  of  the  brain  which  gov- 
erns that  department  of  our  nature.  With  such  an  early 
training,  what  wonder  is  it  that  when  they  come  to 


INTEMPERANCE.  251 

maturity  they  seek  tobacco,  alcoholic  liquors,  highly-sea- 
soned food,  and  thereby  break  down  their  constitutions 
and  their  morals  together. 

The  rules  for  training  this  faculty  are  few  and  simple. 
For  the  first  year  of  a  child's  life,  if  its  mother  be  healthy, 
nature  has  provided  its  best  food,  and,  so  far  as  possible, 
this  should  be  given  to  the  child  at  given  periods,  accord- 
ing to  its  constitution.  Some  mothers  nurse  their  children 
every  time  they  cry  or  appear  restless,  and  thus  keep  the 
stomach  in  an  unhealthy  condition,  containing  food  half 
digested,  and,  indeed,  in  nearly  every  condition,  from  that 
fit  to  be  taken  into  the  blood  to  that  which  is  raw  and 
crude.  Nothing  can  be  more  destructive  to  the  tone  of 
the  stomach  than  such  habits,  unless  it  be  the  taking  of 
noxious  substances ;  but  wholesome  food  thus  mixed,  in 
various  stages  of  change,  becomes  noxious,  and  there  are 
very  few  children  thus  fed  who  do  not  become  irritable, 
feverish,  and  dyspeptical. 

As  a  child  becomes  older,  and  is  weaned,  it  should  be 
fed  upon  a  plain  diet,  in  general  not  such  as  mature  people 
eat.  In  England  and  Scotland,  children  are  not  allowed, 
generally,  to  partake  of  such  food  as  adults  eat,  but  they 
are  fed  upon  oatmeal  porridge,  or  milk  thickened  with 
cooked  oatmeal,  upon  vegetables  of  various  kinds,  and 
upon  soups  made  with  little  meat  and  much  vegetables. 
In  the  United  States  we  often  see  little  children  two  years 
old  making  a  meal  of  roast  beef  and  plum-pudding,  or  ham 
and  eggs — in  short,  precisely  such  food  as  a  healthy  labor- 
ing man  would  eat.  We  often,  hear  pareijts  remark  that 
they  think  their  children  ought  to  live  as  well  a.s  the 


252  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

parents.  By  that  they  mean  that  they  should  drink  cof- 
fee and  eat  meat  and  highly-seasoned  food  with  adults . 
and  these  same  parents  understand  perfectly  well  that  a 
horse  at  five  years  of  age  will  sell  for  fifty  or  a  hundred 
dollars  more,  to  be  put  into  hard  service  in  the  city,  if  that 
horse  has  not  eaten  a  bushel  of  oats  in  his  life,  but  been 
kept  exclusively  upon  hay  and  grass.  Men  are  wise  as  to 
horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine,  but  appear  to  be  utterly 
wanting  in  practical  sense  in  respect  to  the  training  and 
management  of  their  own  children.  We  believe  that 
adults  should  live  on  a  plain  diet,  that  which  is  easy  of 
digestion ;  beef  and  mutton  are  the  best  articles  as  meat, 
not  spiced,  compounded,  or  concentrated,  including  vege- 
tables and  fruit  in  large  degree.  Three  times  a  day,  we 
think,  is  sufficiently  frequent,  and  these  at  regular  inter- 
vals ;  nor  should  the  person  ever  eat  heartily  just  before 
retiring,  even  though  circumstances  have  compelled  him 
to  work  hard  all  day  on  a  mere  breakfast.  If  a  person 
can  not  sit  up  an  hour  and  a  half  after  eating,  he  should 
retire  on  an  empty  stomach,  though  a  hungry  person 
might  eat  a  small  quantity  and  retire  in  half  an  hour  with- 
out detriment. 

When  will  'men  become  as  wise  as  an  ox,  which,  left  to 
roam  the  fields  at  will  and  seek  his  natural  food,  never 
over-eats,  and  rarely  exhibits  symptoms  of  disease  during 
his  whole  life  ?  He  has  no  artificial  habits ;  his  appetite, 
guided  by  instinct,  not  pampered  by  cooking  and  fashion, 
remains  unperverted.  Nature,  having  established  the 
physical  laws  which  govern  men  as  well  as  animals,  would 
secure  to  man  health  and  happiness,  if  he  would  use  his 


DESTRUCTIVENESS  AISTD  COMBATIVE^ESS.   253 

reason  in  guiding  his  habits  as  the  animal  follows  his  in- 
stincts. 

The  organ  of  Alimentiveness,  which  is  located  just  for- 
ward of  where  the  top  of  the  ear  is  joined  to  the  head,  and 
which,  when  large,  is  indicated  by  width  and  fullness  in 
that  region,  is  the  first  organ  in  the  mental  constitution 
which  comes  into  activity.  The  infant  or  the  animal  an 
hour  old  seeks  nourishment,  prompted  by  the  faculty  of 
Alimentiveness,  and,  as  we  have  shown,  ten  thousand  mis- 
eries follow  in  the  train  of  its  abuse. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  maji,  the  noblest  creature  God  has 
made,  should  stumble  at  the  very  dawn  of  his  life  in  the 
exercise  of  so  important  a  faculty  as  Alimentiveness,  re- 
lated as  it  is  to  the  preservation  of  life  and  the  physical 
constitution,  and  that  faculty  being  one  of  the  lowest  ele- 
ments of  his  nature  ?  If  all  the  other  powers  were  as 
badly  directed  and  as  much  abused  as  this,  the  doctrine 
of  Total  Depravity  would  need  no  further  illustration  or 
proof. 

DESTRUCTIVENESS  AND   COMBATIVENESS. 

In  the  base  of  the  brain,  backward  from  Alimentiveness, 
is  the  organ  of  Destructiveness,  located  directly  over  the 
opening  of  the  ear,  and  Combativeness  is  situated  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  upward  and  backward  from  the  open- 
ing of  the  ear,  directly  behind  Destructiveness  and  Secre- 
tiveness. 

These  organs  spring  spontaneously  into  activity  very 
early  in  the  history  of  the  human  being.  As  we  have 
said,  Alimentiveness,  or  appetite,  expresses  the  first  want 


254  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

of  the  new-born  infant ;  and  we  suppose  that  anger  or  ex- 
ecutiveness,  which  arises  from  the  combined  action  of 
Combativeness  and  Destructiveness,  comes  into  play  next 
to  appetite  in  the  order  of  development.  When  the  child 
finds  itself  cramped  and  restricted  in  motion,  whether  by 
the  arms  of  its  nurse  or  by  its  clothing,  it  instantly  com- 
mences to  struggle  for  freedom  and  to  overcome  the  re- 

oo 

straint.  If  it  succeed  in  doing  so,  it  seems  contented ;  if 
not,  it  cries  as  if  angry.  These  feelings,  of  course,  are  not 
only  instinctive,  but  blind  in  their  action ;  that  is  to  say, 
there  is  nothing  of  mind  or  memory  connected  with  them. 
What  is  true  of  the  infant  in  this  respect  is  more  or  less 
true  also  of  the  actions  of  adults;  for  a  man  never  seems 
to  act  so  blindly,  so  unthoughtfully,  as  when  angry. 

It  seems  to  be  the  natural  impulse  of  these  propensities 
to  resist,  to  struggle  against  opposition,  to  overcome. 
Sometimes  the  most  careful  planning,  the  most  labored 
preparation  which  the  intellect,  guided  by  science,  can 
command,  is  made,  and  seems  to  guide  the  executive  fac- 
ulties. This  is  true  in  engineering  and  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  great  works.  It  is  true  in  some  battles ;  but  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten,  when  the  outline  of  the  plan  has  been 
followed,  personal  encounters,  hand-to-hand  struggles,  and 
indiscriminate  skirmishes,  guided  by  the  passion  of  the 
moment,  become  practically  the  law  of  battle.  In  ordinary 
personal  disagreements,  the  intellect  rarely  does  more 
than  act  as  priming  to  set  on  fire  the  passions  of  Combat- 
iveness and  Destructiveness,  after  which  they  act  at  ran- 
dom, impelled  by  their  own  energy,  apparently  writb  no 
restraint.  Some  persons  have  large  Cautiousness,  strong 


COURAGE  :  FORCE  AND  ITS  LAWS.        255 

reasoning  intellect,  and  that  equable  moderation  of  tem- 
perament which  enables  them  to  think  of  consequences 
and  count  the  cost  even  when  aroused  to  anger;  but  these 

o       * 

people  constitute  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule  of  action. 
The  great  object  of  training  and  education  in  conjunc- 
tion with  these  propensities  should  be  to  guard  against 
their  undue  excitability,  to  refrain  from  appealing  to  them 
directly  in  the  hour  of  exasperation ;  and  secondly,  to  as- 
sist or  awaken  the  activity  of  such  other  faculties  as  shall 
tend  to  modify,  check,  guide,  and  restrain  these  passions. 
It  is  not  the  question  whether  these  propensities  shall  ex- 
ist in  the  mind,  nor  whether  they  shall  rise  into  activity; 
for  they  not  only  exist,  but  ought  to  exist ;  they  not  only 
will  spring  into  spontaneous  activity,  but  it  is  right  that 
they  should  do  so.  But  the  great  question  is,  How  shall 
the  other  parts  of  the  mind  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them, 
BO  as  to  keep  them,  as  we  might  say  of  a  train  of  cars, 
"on  the  track?"  We  seldom  complain  of  the  normal 
action  of  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness.  We  are 
proud  to  see  friends  dash  on  nobly  in  a  good  cause,  and 
scatter  right  and  left  bad,  unworthy,  and  improper  oppo- 
sition to  their  just  progress.  In  like  manner  the  engineer 
is  proud  and  the  passengers  happy  when  the  locomotive, 
with  its  long  train  of  cars,  rushes  onward  across  ravines, 
over  bridges,  through  tunnels,  and  across  the  plains,  at  the 
rate  of  forty  miles  an  hour.  Its  energy,  the  outworking 
of  the  engineer's  courage  and  force,  is  a  subject  of  gratula- 
tion  to  all  parties.  But  when  this  wonderful  engine  es- 
capes from  the  track,  when  it  ceases  to  act  under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  law  by  which  it  is  constructed  and  put  in 


256  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

motion,  and  dashes  down  an  embankment,  carrying  with 
it  its  living  freight,  it  is  then  only  that  its  speed  becomes 
a  mischief,  and  its  momentum  desolation  and  death.  Thus 
we  glory  in  power  which  is  organized  into  a  locomotive 
engine,  so  long  as  that  power  is  under  proper  control ;  but 
when  it  breaks  from  that  control,  and  dire  disaster  is  the 
result,  we  shrink  from  it  with  fear  and  dread.  So  the  pas- 
sion of  anger,  or,  more  properly  speaking,  executiveness 
and  courage,  while  guided  by  intellect  and  restrained  by 
sympathy,  friendship,  honor,  and  moral  sentiment,  lay  the 
foundations  of  deeds  which  immortalize  men.  It  is  only 
when  they  break  away  from  their  true  line  of  action,  when 
they  get  "  off  the  track,"  and  act  illegitimately,  that  they 
become  despots  in  their  character,  and  lead  to  sad  conse- 
quences. The  injunction,  "Be  angry  and  sin  not,"  recog- 
nizes the  action  of  these  faculties,  even  if  they  are  evinced 
by  anger;  and  the  restriction,  "sin  not,"  seems  to  hold 
anger  to  legitimate  offices — keeps  it  on  the  track.  But 
when  we  become  angry,  and  sin  through  that  anger,  we 
abuse  the  faculties — we  are  led  astray  by  them. 

The  development  of  Destructiveness  gives  width  to  the 
head  just  above  the  opening  of  the  ears.  In  carnivorous 
animals  and  birds,  every  head  is  widely  developed  in  this 
region ;  witness  the  cat  and  owl,  the  eagle,  the  bulldog, 
and  the  shark.  We  mention  these  extreme  cases,  because 
the  passion  is  very  strongly  manifested,  and  the  organ 
largely  developed.  We  refer  to  these  animals,  also,  be- 
cause this  is  the  crowning  quality  of  their  character.  Some 
of  them  seem  to  possess  almost  nothing  else,  if  we  except 
appetite,  as  in  the  case  of  the  shark.  Combativeness, 


AND  ITS  TRAINING.  257 

which  is  the  foundation  of  courage,  boldness,  and  intrepid- 
ity, gives  width  to  that  part  of  the  human  head  just  back- 
ward of  the  top  of  the  ears.  Some  animals  appear  to  pos- 
sess very  large  Destructiveness  and  but  limited  Combat- 
ivent'ss.  They  come  into  a  contest  reluctantly,  but  are  ter- 
rific when  engaged.  Others  assail  boldly,  but  are  not 
cruel ;  and  vre  see  these  traits  in  the  human  race  in  nearly 
every  degree  of  modification. 

In  the  education  of  these  faculties  the  effort  should  not 
be  to  suppress  or  crush  them,  but  to  train  them  to  act  in 
obedience  to,  and  in  harmony  with,  the  higher  powers  of 
the  mind.  They  are  propelling  forces,  and  need  guidance ; 
we  would,  therefore,  make  them  a  team,  and  harness  them 
to  Benevolence,  Conscientiousness,  Friendship,  Construct- 
iveness,  and  the  intellectual  faculties.  The  energy  of  Com- 
bativeness  arid  Destructiveness  may  be  legitimately  worked 
off  upon  laborious  pursuits  that  require  force,  and  thus  be- 
come indispensably  useful.  The  best  method  to  sober  a 
high-tempered  boy — and  it  applies  equally  well  to  a  horse 
— is  to  give  him  plenty  of  hard  work  to  use  up  his  super- 
abundant energy.  It  is  only  the  perversion  of  the  propel- 
ling forces  that  produces  fighting,  wrangling,  and  wrath. 

As  soon  as  a  child  is  old  enough  to  show  anger,  his  edu- 
cation in  that  respect  should  begin.  Care  should  be  taken 
to  discriminate  between  mere  Combativeness  or  Destruct- 
iveness acting  singly  and  the  combination  of  these  powers. 
When  only  Combativeness  is  excited,  all  that  is  necessary 
is  to  employ  a  calm  and  quiet  manner.  If  Destructiveness 
be  excited  at  the  same  time,  or  alone,  producing  bitterness 
and  a  spirit  of  cruelty,  it  is  necessary  not  only  to  be  calm, 


258  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

but  very  firm  and  very  kind,  so  as  to  awaken  opposite 
feelings  in  the  child. 

It  is  the  nature  of  mind  to  be  instantly  affected  with 
emotions  corresponding  to  those  which  are  exercised  to- 
ward us  or  in  our  presence.  It  is  the  nature  of  Mirthful- 
ness  to  excite  merriment.  We  can  not  be  in  the  presence 
of  a  person  of  mirthful  disposition,  especially  if  that  faculty 
be  at  the  time  active  in  him,  without  having  the  feeling 
become  contagious.  We  laugh  because  the  other  laughs. 
In  like  manner,  Self-Esteem  exhibited  by  another  arouses 
in  us  a  spirit  of  dignity.  Friendship  awakens  affection, 
Benevolence  makes  us  sympathetical,  and  anger  excites 
our  anger. 

If  a  child  shows  anger,  it  usually  awakens  the  same 
feeling  in  the  parent,  especially  if  the  child  be  old  enough 
to  understand  that  he  is  doing  wrong.  Nothing  is  more 
common  than  for  parents  to  become  irritated  by  the  anger 
of  their  children  who  are  less  than  a  year  old,  and  we  have 
seen  them  treated  harshly,  and  often  severely  whipped. 
This  manifestation  of  anger  by  the  parent  generally  makes 
the  child  worse,  by  adding  fuel  to  the  flame,  and  his  or- 
gans of  Combativeness  and  Destructiveness  become  en- 
larged and  inflamed  ;  and  as  the  child  increases  in  age  and 
ripens  in  such  experiences,  he  becomes  quarrelsome,  turbu- 
lent, tand  cruel,  and  seems  to  feel  a  kind  of  satanic  delight 
in  fighting  with  and  tormenting  others.  We  have  known 
many  instances  where  children  have  been  roughly  and 
severely  treated,  in  whom  the  organs  of  Destructiveness 
and  Combativeness  were  doubtless  unduly  developed  by 
this  means,  and  the  natural  consequences  of  wrangling  and 


REMEDY  FOE  ANGER. 

quarreling,  scolding  and  fighting,  followed  as  they  grew 
up;  while  other  children  in  the  same  family,  the  parents 
having  been  warned  by  Phrenology,  or  by  their  own  com- 
mon sense  and  the  bad  effects  of  such  treatment  upon  one 
child,  have  adopted  a  new  course  with  subsequent  chil- 
dren, and  with  the  best  results.  Not  only  have  the  organs 
been  kept  calm  and  uninflamed,  but  they  have  not  been 
expanded  by  exercise  and  enlarged  by  use.  That  proverb 
is  full  of  truth  and  sound  philosophy  which  says,  "  A  soil 
answer  turneth  away  wrath,  but  grievous  words  stir  up 
anger,"  and  it  reveals  the  true  theory  of  training  Destruct- 
iveness  and  Combativeness.  A  person  can  not  govern 
others  well  who  can  not  govern  himself;  therefore  one 
should  never  allow  himself  to  become  angry  with  a  person 
whose  angry  feelings  he  would  control.  An  irritable  child 
often  inherits  this  quality  from  an  equally  irritable  parent, 
and  for  this  state  of  mind  he  is  rather  to  be  pitied  than 
blamed.  How  ill  adapted  is  a  parent  who  can  not  gov- 
ern his  own  anger  to  control  such  a  child ! 

A  child  with  an  undue  development  of  these  organs 
should  be  fed  with  a  plain,  cooling  diet,  and  its  treatment 
in  all  respects  be  uniformly  kind.  It  is  rarely  the  case 
that  an  angry  child  can  be  managed,  without  great  injury 
to  its  disposition,  by  one  who  is  not  cool  and  self-possessed. 
Soothing  tones  and  amiable  language  should  be  addressed 
to  it,  and  its  passion  will  soon  subside ;  then  a  steady  and 
efficient  rebuke  may  be  addressed  to  its  moral  and  intel- 
lectual qualities,  which  will  be  aroused  to  condemn  the 
bad  conduct,  and  thus  the  mind  becomes  fortified  against 
the  rebellious  faculties,  and  the  power  acquired  to  quell 


260  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

the  next  mutiny  among  the  faculties.  Every  such  victory 
gives  exercise  and  consequent  strength  to  the  higher  fac- 
ulties, and  lays  the  foundation  of  self-control.  To  speak 
to  a  child  in  anger,  so  as  to  excite  wrath,  increases  the 
tempest,  while  a  calm,  steady,  unruffled  tone,  under  the 
command  of  reason,  benevolence,  and  affection,  will  allay 
the  storm,  by  prompting  the  activity  of  the  opposite  class 
of  faculties. 

When  children  are  excited  to  anger,  there  are  two  ex- 
cellent* modes  of  managing  them.  The  first  is  by  with- 
drawing the  mind  from  the  objects  of  anger.  If  the  child 
be  young,  one  can  present  something  interesting  tor  its 
other  faculties.  When  the  child  becomes  older,  it  will  be 
easy  to  relate  some  story  in  which  his  own  angry  conduct 
will  be  shown  in  such  a  light  as  to  make  it  appear  im- 
proper or  ridiculous.  We  have  seen  a  child  in  one  minute 
changed  from  rage  to  laughter  at  its  folly  for  being  angry, 
under  the  ingenious  treatment  of  an  amiable  sister  or  a 
judicious  mother,  who  was  cool  and  calm  in  her  manner. 
Another  excellent  mode  to  cool  the  rage  of  anger  is  to 
pour  water  on  the  refractory  child.  This  will  be  found  to 
work  like  a  charm.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  dash  only  a 
little  from  the  fingers  on  the  face  and  neck  of  the  child, 
but  this  must  be  done  in  all  calmness,  kindness,  and  can-  • 
dor,  as  when  you  administer  medicine.  It  will  subdue  the 
anger  in  half  the  time  it  would  take  to  conquer  the  child 
with  a  whip,  and  leave  no  ill  effect  on  the  mind  of  the 
Bubject.  But  this  should  be  followed,  when  the  child's 
anger  has  subsided,  with  a  kind  and  firm  statement  of  the 
case,  so  that  the  intellect  and  moral  feelings  of  the  child 


TKUE  WAY  TO  WHIP.  261 

will  be  fully  awakened  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  previous 
wrong  conduct.  Thus  we  cure  the  erring,  violent  passions, 
and  awaken  the  self-restraining,  self-controlling  elements. 
There  is  still  another  method,  and  that  is  the  whip. 
There  may  be  children  who  can  be  punished  and  governed 
by  the  use  of  the  whip,  who  can  not  easily  be  managed  in 
any  other  way;  but  we  believe  if  this  be  resorted  to,  it 
should  be  done  by  those  who  are  not  generally  inclined  to 
whip — by  moderate,  prudent,  calm  people ;  and  then  the 
child  shonld  be  allowed  time  to  think.  Let  him  have  an 
hour,  or  four  hours,  or  let  him  wait  till  to-morrow  at  a 
given  hour ;  and  when  the  castigation  shall  be  administered, 
let  it  be  thorough.  One  such  judicious  whipping  will  be 
likely  to  last  the  child  for  a  year,  or  for  life ;  whereas,  if 
he  were  seized  upon  violently,  and  angrily  whipped,  and 
ra>t  aside,  it  would  only  awaken  bad  passions,  and  blunt  or 
suppress  the  higher  and  better  feelings,  and  open  the  way 
for  a  hundred  whippings,  and  for  a  sour  and  unmanage- 
able temper  for  life.  If  a  light  blow  or  two  be  given,  it 
simply  arouses  the  child's  anger;  two  or  three  more  may 
be  given  and  the  wrath  becomes  furious,  then  another, 
and  perhaps  three  or  four  more  applications  may  be  made 
— in  all  perhaps  twenty  blows  may  be  given  before  the 
culprit  from  fatigue,  fear,  and  pain  gives  up,  but  is  not 
conquered  or  benefited.  If  six  sharp,  heavy  blows  instead 
of  three  had  been  given  at  first,  the  very  severity  would 
have  brought  submission  and  benefit.  In  the  other  case, 
be  is  hardened  and  brutalized.  Severe  whipping,  if  judi- 
ciously administered,  is  merciful  to  children;  it  certainly 
is  to  animals. 


262  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  whole  system  of  whipping  con- 
sists in  the  fact  that  most  persons  whip  only  when  they 
are  angry,  and  as  a  mere  manifestation  of  anger.  They 
evince  no  morality,  no  intellect,  no  sympathetical  spirit, 
but  only  mere  physical  force,  inspired  by  the  passion  of 
anger,  and,  of  course,  this  awakens  in  the  child  the  corre- 
sponding feeling.  This,  however,  is  education,  and  an  ed- 
ucation of  the  worst  kind.  Let  it  be  reformed  altogether. 


APPROBATIVENESS. 

Man  is  constituted  to  live  in  society,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  his  happiness  that  he  should  enjoy  the  good-will  of  his 
fellows.  To  gain  that  good-will  one  needs  to  restrain  the 
energy  of  his  own  will  to  some  extent,  in  order  to  accom- 
modate himself  to  the  wishes  and  will  of  others.  This 
sacrifice  of  individual  feeling  for  others,  or  rather  .the  mod- 
ification of  it,  is  the  foundation  of  politeness.  The  faculty 
which  we  call  Approbativeness  lies  at  the  basis  of  the 
desire  to  please;  and  perhaps  no  faculty  of  the  mind  is 
more  influential  than  this ;  its  effects  on  feeling  and  char- 
acter are  immense. 

Approbativeness  is  a  powerful  stimulus  to  action,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  influential  in  the  mental  constitution.  It 
seeks  praise,  is  gratified  with  appreciation  and  flattery, 
and  renders  its  possessor  unhappy  under  criticism,  reproof, 
and  rebuke.  This  gives  a  sense  of  shame  and  mortification. 

"We  can  hardly  conceive  of  a  state  in  which  a  person  is 
truly  more  elated,  joyous,  and  happy  than  when  Approba- 
tiveness is  favorably  exercised.  When  all  speak  well  of  a 
person,  and  the  general  plaudits  of  the  people  shout  his 
praises,  he  is  buoyed  up,  sustained,  and  exceedingly  happy. 
Under  such  influences  a  man's  talent  is  strengthened,  and 
every  quality  of  his  being,  physical  and  mental,  is  endowed 
with  extraordinary  power. 


APPROBATTVENESS.  263 

In  the  majority  of  mankind  in  civilized  countries  the 
love  of  praise  is  both  the  strong  and  the  weak  point.  It 
renders  a  person  weak  when  it  becomes  the  avenue  of 
flattery ;  it  renders  him  strong  when  it  serves  to  create  an 
ambition  for  eminence  or  noble  attainment.  It  fires  the 
merchant  and  the  mechanic,  the  farmer  and  the  artist,  the 
lawyer,  the  physician,  the  poet,  the  author,  the  orator,  and 
the  devotee  of  fashion ;  and  those  who  stand  on  the  high- 
est summits  of  moral  elevation  are  by  no  means  free  from 
its  influence,  nor  should  they  be. 

This  faculty  has  in  it  a  social  quality.  Men  who  live 
apart  from  their  fellows,  whose  business  or  circumstances 
almost  hermetically  estrange  them  from  society,  have  very 
little  culture  or  development  of  this  feeling.  Those  who 
live  scattered  and  are  very  little  in  society  are  usually  not 
well  endowed  with  it,  and  what  they  have  is  inactive, 
while  as  we  advance  toward  a  higher  state  of  civilization ; 
to  villages  and  cities,  we  find  the  manifestation  of  this 
feeling  in  its  highest  degree  of  activity  and  power.  In 
large  cities,  where  men  expect  to  meet  strangers  almost 
exclusively,  they  feel  the  necessity  for  a  tidy  garb,  and  for 
the  maintenance  of  manners  that  are  polite  and  unexcep- 
tionable. Indeed,  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  person  en- 
tirely removed  from  society  to  maintain,  in  appearance 
and  manner,  those  refinements  and  elegances  which  are 
deemed  indispensable  in  well-cultivated  social  life.  The 
great  error  of  society  in  respect  to  this  faculty  arises  from 
its  paramount  activity  and  perversion.  Like  Alimentive- 
ness,  Approbativeness  has  been  greatly  abused  by  training 
and  the  force  of  custom.  While  it  exists  in  proper  strength 
and  in  harmony  with  the  other  faculties,  while  it  is  directed 
to  proper  objects,  and  subordinated  to  the  intellectual  and 
moral  powers,  its  manifestations  are  not  only  pleasurable 
to  its  possessor,  but  productive  of  virtue  and  good  order. 
Its  cultivation  has  been  such  that  it  is  predominant  in  the 


264  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

character,  and  the  majority  of  mankind  are  thus  made 
slaves  to  a  perverted  public  sentiment,  to  a  false  standard 
of  fashion,  to  fashion  right  or  wrong.  Nothing  is  more 
insatiable  than  the  desire  to  see  and  obtain  a  new  fashion, 
and  to  be  first  in  it  occupies  the  attention  and  engrosses 
the  care  of  the  wealthy  class,  while  the  laboring  million 
struggle  to  keep  up  appearances  by  endeavoring  to  follow 
in  the  wake  of  the  rich. 

This  faculty  should  not  be  crushed  out,  but  allowed  a 
healthy  and  harmonious  development  with  all  the  other 
powers,  so  that  it  may  blend  with  them  in  giving  the  true 
shading  to  the  character.  It  should  have  such  action  as 
the  reason  and  the  moral  feelings  will  approve,  then  it  will 
become  an  aid  to  virtue,  and  an  accessory  of  morality  and 
good  order. 

In  the  training  of  this  faculty  there  are  grave  errors  to 
be  met  and  mastered.  In  ten  thousand  ways  it  is  inflamed 
by  those  who  have  the  care  of  the  young,  without  any 
knowledge  or  intention  of  so  doing.  Suppose  it  be  large 
in  the  head  of  a  little  girl  who,  perchance,  is  beautiful  and 
interesting.  Persons  delighted  with  her  appearance  and 
anxious  to  please  her  parents  as  well  as  herself,  speak  of 
her  beauty  in  her  presence,  praise  her  good  looks  and 
pretty  dress.  All  she  says  or  does  is  repeated  in  her  hear- 
ing and  applauded,  which  serves  to  make  her  vain  and 
selfish.  She  becomes  morbidly  sensitive  to  applause,  and 
literally  lives  upon  it  as  she  does  upon  the  vital  air.  If 
she  does  not  receive  it  she  is  miserable,  and  this  chagrin 
excites  Approbativeness  quite  as  much  as  praise.  If  she 
is  sent  to  school  gayly  attired,  her  good  looks  attract  the 
attention  and  awaken  the  partiality  alike  of  teacher  and 
pupils,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  she  becomes  the 
favorite  and  the  pet  of  all.  If  she  is  selfish,  sharp,  and 
perverse  in  temper,  it  is  regarded  as  smartness,  and  is 
therefore  tolerated,  if  not  excused.  Such  a  child  will  be 


A  CONTRAST.  265 

too  much  elated  with  attentions  to  study,  and  if  she  neg- 
lects her  lessons,  the  teacher  overlooks  an  imperfect  reci- 
tation, especially  since  she  is  so  sensitive  to  censure.  Be- 
ing popular  without  effort,  and  caressed  without  deserving 
it,  she  sees  no  necessity  for  being  amiable  or  studious.  If 
she  is  wayward  and  vicious  in  disposition,  a  little  flattery 
on  the  part  of  others  serves  to  smooth  her  countenance 
and  restore  it  to  smiles,  when,  in  fact,  she  ought  to  be  held 
responsible,  morally  and  intellectually,  for  her  imperious 
temper  and  breach  of  good  manners. 

When  she  is  old  enough  to  go  into  society,  she  there 
meets  with  flattery,  seeks  it,  expects  it,  lives  upon  it.  She 
may  be  rude,  fretful,  and  impolite,  yet  her  beauty  palliates 
her  defects  and  captivates  her  admiring  associates.  If  she 
attends  church,  her  fevered  Approbativeness  makes  her 
more  alive  to  the  admiration  of  observers,  more  solicitous 
to  display  her  elegant  dress  and  sparkling  eyes,  than  to 
attend  to  the  true  object  of  church-going.  At  school,  in- 
different to  intellectual  culture,  she  is  shallow  and  barren 
in  education ;  in  the  social  circle  she  curbs  not  her  selfish 
propensities,  and  fails  to  become  polite  and  attentive  to 
the  wants  and  happiness  of  others ;  in  morals  she  is  defec- 
tive, because  she  has  been  praised  and  caressed  without 
meriting  it,  and  popular  without  the  exercise  of  moral 
feeling — indeed,  while  contravening  every  canon  of  polite- 
ncss  and  refinement.  What  are  we  to  expect  but  that 
such  a  girl  so  trained  should  become,  as  a  woman,  selfish, 
peevish,  deceitful,  hypocritical,  ignorant,  and  wanting  in 
all  the  noble  virtues  of  wife  and  mother  ?  Who  would 
not  be  surprised  if  she  were  to  exhibit  all  the  higher  and 
better  qualities  belonging  to  her  sex  and  station  ? 

A   CONTRAST. 

We  can  hardly  estimate  the  influence  which  powerful 
Approbativeness  produces  upon  a  girl  whose  beauty  calls 

12 


266  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

out  praise  and  admiration,  and  the  consequent  undue  cul- 
ture of  Approbativeness,  unless  we  study  the  action  of 
that  faculty  by  way  of  contrast.  Let  us  suppose  a  little 
girl  with  a  plain  face,  which  has  no  quality  to  attract  at- 
tention or  win  admiration.  Her  mother  never  told  her 
she  was  beautiful ;  she  is  not  decked  with  gaudy  dress,  nor 
is  she  flattered  at  school,  and  therefore  she  has  nothing  to 
do  but  to  attend  to  her  studiei.  If  she  has  Approbative- 
ness, and  desires  to  gratify  her  ambition,  she  sees  no  way 
open  for  her  to  do  it  but  to  seek  excellence  as  a  scholar, 
and  social  favor  through  amiability  and  gentleness  of  man- 
ners. She  becomes,  therefore,  a  good  scholar,  and  culti- 
vates the  qualities  which  refine  and  ennoble  the  mind,  since 
it  is  only  through  the  action  of  these  that  she  can  attain 
to  a  position  of  respectability.  When  she  goes  into  society 
she  is  not  the  observed  of  all  observers,  the  special  pet  of 
strangers,  and  is  not  inflamed  by  vanity.  To  make  her- 
self acceptable,  she  aims  to  cultivate  and  exemplify  the 
amiable  virtues ;  not  expecting  to  be  particularly  admired 
at  church,  she  has  nothing  to  distract  her  attention  from 
moral  and  religious  instruction.  At  home  she  has  some- 
thing to  do  besides  to  dress  and  receive  company ;  she  be- 
comes industrious,  practical,  and  domestic,  and  in  general 
disposition  all  that  a  woman  should  be,  and  simply  because 
not  being  beautiful  she  was  not  flattered,  and  therefore 
her  Approbativeness  did  not  absorb  or  overpower  all  the 
other  faculties,  and  thereby  warp  and  derange  her  whole 
character. 

When  this  faculty  is  excessively  active,  it  perverts 
every  thought,  tinges  every  emotion,  and  modifies  every 
action ;  it  gives  to  the  whole  mind  a  feverish  susceptibility, 
and  makes  its  possessor  keenly  alive  to  reproach,  eager  to 
gain  praise  and  popularity,  and  a  slave  to  all  that  affects 
reputation. 

Like  Alimentiveness,  the  organ  of  Approbativeness  is 


APPROBATIVENESS.  267 

enlarged  by  the  food  it  feeds  upon,  and  like  that,  it  be- 
comes more  and  more  a  ruling  element  in  proportion  as 
one's  habits  are  calculated  to  excite  it.  Teachers  and 
parents  should  never  let  this  element  sleep  in  the  children 
under  their  care,  nor  should  they  allow  it  to  be  lashed  into 
absorbing  wakefulness.  While  acting  in  a  subordinate 
sphere,  its  influence  is  most  excellent,  like  the  fire  while 
kept  on  the  hearth ;  but  when  it  breaks  away  from  its  due 
sphere  of  action,  it  is  like  the  conflagration  which  becomes 
the  master  of  all. 

In  many  families  and  schools  Approbativeness  is  made 
the  nucleus  of  all  influence;  praise  and  censure  are  the 
only  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  the  conduct  of  the 
young,  and  the  result  is,  this  feeling  becomes  almost  liter- 
ally the  only  conscience  which  the  child  has,  and  it  would 
srcm  that  the  parent  and  teacher  thought  so  by  the  con- 
stant appeals  which  are  made  to  it  as  a  means  of  control- 
ling and  restraining  the  disposition.  Whatever  brings 
praise  to  such  a  child  seems  right;  whatever  brings  cen- 
sure and  disgrace  is  accounted  as  wrong.  At  Thrace, 
under  the  laws  of  Lycurgus,  to  steal  was  no  disgrace,  but 
to  be  found  out  was  infamy.  A  child  whom  we  attempt 
to  n ^traiu  from  wrong-doing  only  by  an  appeal  to  his  sense 
of  shame,  regards  such  vices  and  irregularities  as  can  be 
concealed  from  public  knowledge  as  scarcely  a  crime,  and 
is  led  to  think  the  sin  consists  merely  in  being  found  out, 
and  virtuous  actions  are  virtuous  only  because  they  win 
applause.  These  ideas,  whether  based  on  truth  or  error, 
become  the  governing  influence. 

We  have  seen  a  little  boy,  when  praised  for  climbing, 
go  to  the  top  of  a  ship's  mast,  like  a  monkey,  and  hang  his 
cap  upon  it,  and  then  come  down  safely.  But  he  per- 
formed no  such  feats  when  not  looked  at  by  his  friends 
and  stimulated  by  Approbativeness.  In  battle,  the  idea 
of  praise,  of  fame,  honor,  and  renown,  of  title  and  distinc- 


268  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

tion,  induces  a  man  to  "  seek  glory  at  the  cannon's  mouth." 
Indeed,  we  believe  that  all  the  "  pride,  pomp,  and  circum- 
stance of  glorious  war  "  finds  its  most  genial  soil  for  growth 
in  this  mental  element,  Approbativeness.  Under  its  influ- 
ence men  seek  wealth,  and  for  the  sake  of  houses,  gardens, 
conservatories,  statues,  carriages,  parties,  and  display,  sac- 
rifice their  health,  the  best  years  of  their  lives,  exerting 
every  fiber  of  their  physical  constitutions,  and  every  men- 
tal power,  to  secure  the  wealth  necessary  for  this  gratifica- 
tion. They  sometimes  do  more — they  barter  their  manli- 
ness, their  conscience ;  they  swindle,  cheat,  and  steal  under 
the  spur  of  this  faculty.  The  orator  soars  to  the  sublimity 
of  eloquence,  stimulated  by  the  applause  of  the  multitude ; 
the  musician,  inspired  by  the  same  element,  rises  to  his 
highest  excellence  in  execution  under  the  stimulation  of 
applause.  Persons  try  to  do  well,  to  be  moral,  cleanly, 
learned,  affable,  and,  indeed,  all  that  is  good  and  desirable, 
because  of  the  influence  of  this  faculty.  So  far,  it  mainly 
is  a  help  to  duty,  to  goodness,  and  to  virtue. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  it  be  too  active,  and  not  properly 
gratified  and  directed.by  the  other  mental  powers,  it  be- 
comes a  hindrance  to  virtue,  morality,  and  goodness ;  for 
it  inspires  those  who  are  vicious  to  play  the  hypocrite,  to 
counterfeit  goodness,  and  deny  their  faults,  and  even  com- 
mit one  crime  to  hide  another.  There  is  many  a  murder 
committed  to  hide  one's  shame.  Many  a  man,  to  save  his 
name  from  disgrace,  has  sent  his  confiding  victim  to  an 
untimely  death,  who,  under  the  action  of  any  other  emo- 
tion than  mortified  Approbativeness,  would  have  shrunk 
from  a  deed  so  dark.  We  believe  that  four-fifths  of  all 
the  crimes  of  woman  originate  in  excessive  and  perverted 
Approbativeness.  But  we  leave  the  reader  to  trace  out 
for  himself  all  the  crimes  and  follies  which  an  excess  of 
this  faculty  may  lead  her  to  do. 

A  child  in  whom  this  organ  is  large  is  alternately  praised 


APPROBATIVE^ESS.  269 

and  blamed,  flattered  and  frowned  upon,  according  as  it 
is  desired  on  the  part  of  its  parent,  nurse,  playmate,  or 
teacher  to  urge  on  or  hinder  from  action  the  little  subject. 
If  \ve  wish  children  to  perform  anything,  we  excite  them 
to  do  it  by  pleasing  Approbativeness.  If  we  wish  to  hin- 
der their  accomplishing  the  same  end,  we  show  up  its 
shame  side,  and  the  child  will  do  or  refrain  from  doing  the 
anything,  according  as  we  praise  or  censure  the  thing  in 
question.  Plow  important,  then,  that  this  faculty  be  prop- 
erly understood  by  all  those  who  are  thus  influencing  and 
being  influenced,  and  that  it  be  exercised  always  in  con- 
junction with  the  judgment,  the  moral  sentiments,  and  an 
enlightened  benevolence ! 

When  a  child's  Approbativeness  is  large,  that  faculty 
should  rarely  be  addressed ;  but  an  appeal  should  be  made 
to  conscience,  intellect,  benevolence,  and  particularly  to 
the  fitness  and  propriety  of  things.  Let  the  child  be 
trained  to  feel  that  no  praise  has  value  except  it  be  sanc- 
tioned by  the  abstract  principles  of  reason,  righteousness, 
and  truth.  We  are  aware  that  the  great  trouble  in  the 
training  of  children  is,  that  those  parents  who  have  Ap- 
probativeness large  are  apt  to  feel  that  an  appeal  to  the 
same  feeling  in  children  constitutes  the  strongest  hold 
which  they  can  have  upon  their  characters ;  thus  they  em- 
ploy flattery  almost  exclusively  as  a  means  of  control. 
Children  of  such  parents  are  also  liable  to  inherit  an  ex- 
\e  amount  of  this  susceptibility  to  praise,  and  as  they 
obtain  an  excessive  amount  of  training  in  this  faculty  which 
is  already  by  nature  too  active,  it  is  not  strange  that  they 
become  excessively  vain.  Hence  it  is  that  children  re- 
moved from  parental  influence,  and  trained 'by  persons 
whose  organizations  are  somewhat  different  from  their 
own,  are  often  better  trained  than  they  can  be  at  home. 
Children  who  inherit  but  little  of  this  faculty  require  train- 
ing by  those  who  have  a  larger  degree  of  it.  It  is  difficult 


270  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

not  to  conduct  toward  children  according  to  our  own 
stronger  feelings  and  impulses,  especially  if  they  be  sym- 
pathies and  amiable  affections ;  it  is  difficult  to  be  guided 
by  the  philosophy  of  our  organization,  and  contrary  to 
our  sympathies  and  inclinations  in  the  application  of  this 
philosophy  to  the  training  of  children,  especially  when  such 
a  course  crosses  our  path  and  renders  the  children  tem- 
porarily unhappy.  But  we  trust  the  day  is  coming  when 
a  general  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  Phrenology  will 
be  possessed  by  all  parents  and  teachers  to  such  an  extent, 
at  least,  that  a  great  majority  of  the  errors  of  education 
will  be  corrected,  and  facilities  for  drawing  out  the  minds 
and  dispositions  in  the  right  direction  will  be  opened  to 
the  world — facilities  for  the  want  of  which  mankind  from 
the  earliest  ages  have  suffered,  and  still  suffer. 

The  standard  of  pride  and  ambition  varies  with  different 
nations  and  different  classes  of  people,  from  the  highest  to 
the  very  lowest.  Persons  who  are  mainly  developed  in 
the  base  of  the  brain  will  pride  themselves  on  their  excel- 
lences in  the  mere  physical  faculties,  such  as  strength, 
ability  to  excel  others  in  wrestling,  jumping,  running,  or 
fighting.  We  suppose  that  nowhere  are  pride  and  ambi- 
tion more  intensely  excited  than  in  the  prize  ring.  Pu- 
gilists glory  in  their  might,  and  in  their  power  of  hard 
hitting.  We  knew  a  man  who  boasted  he  could  out- 
eat  anybody;  and  we  have  heard  men  boast  of  their 
power  as  mere  animals  in  the  manifestation  of  sensuality. 
The  strifes  for  the  mastery,  for  distinction  in  the  various 
games  and  races — whether  it  be  Morphy  in  the  game  of 
chess,  pugilists  in  the  ring,  gymnasts,  gladiators,  or  the 
men  of  the  turf,  directors  of  ocean  steamships,  or  the  more 
modern  style  of  balloon  racing,  one  and  all  have  their 
foundation  in,  the  faculties  under  consideration. 

If  we  rise  to  the  higher  planes  of  mentality,  we  find  men 
proud  of  their  skill  in  workmanship  in  metal  or  wood,  in 


APPROBATIYENESS.  271 

music,  in  languages,  in  composition,  in  oratory,  in  logic,  or 
in  mathematics ;  others,  again,  value  themselves  on  their 
moral  integrity,  or  on  their  religious  or  spiritual  elevation. 
This,  perhaps,  may  be  called  spiritual  pride;  but  many 
who  suppose  humility  and  self-abasement  to  be  the  high- 
est of  virtues,  would  regard  Approbativeness,  or  the  sense 
of  reputation,  as  utterly  out  of  place  in  connection  with 
the  moral  virtues  and  religious  susceptibilities.  But,  pray, 
in  what  may  a  man  glory  and  value  himself,  if  not  in  in- 
tegrity, kindness,  and  spirituality  ?  May  a  man  be  proud 
of  his  horses,  his  crops,  his  ships,  his  merchandise,  his  skill 
of  handicraft,  and  ashamed  of  integrity,  philanthropy,  and 
the  higher  virtues  generally? 

The  faculties  which  produce  pride  are  valuable  in  their 
influence  in  proportion  as  they  act  with  man's  higher  na- 
ture. To  be  proud  of  gluttony  is  base  and  debasing.  To 
be  proud  of  mere  brute  force,  brutally  exercised,  is  also 
low  and  demoralizing.  The  fault,  however,  is  not  in  the 
tendency  to  value  one's  self  for  his  powrer  of  success  in  ma- 
terial things,  but  it  is  in  the  fact  that  his  great  strength 
lies  in  his  lower  nature;  that  his  moral  and  intellectual 
powers  have  not  a  leading  position  in  his  mind,  and  hence 
his  ambition  seeks  a  channel  of  manifestation  through  these 
lower  elements,  instead  of,  as  it  should  do,  through  the 
higher  faculties. 

It  is  amusing  to  listen  to  the  conversation  of  people,  to 
ascertain  in  what  they  pride  themselves,  and  thus  to  dis- 
cover "  wherein  their  great  strength  lieth."  You  shall 
hear  one  say  of  a  friend  that  "  he  is  a  very  respectable 
man,  is  worth  a  hundred  thousand  dollars ; "  or  that  "  the 
young  lady  has  married  well,  and  her  husband  is  worth  so 
much."  Acquisitiveness,  in  these  cases,  seems  to  be  the 
governing  power.  Another  will  say  of  a  friend  that  "  he 
is  a  splendid  scholar ; "  another  will  say  a  person  "  has  re- 
finement ; "  another  will  say  his  friend  is."  moral  and  relig. 


272  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

iotis ; "  another  will  speak  of  a  friend  as  "  occupying  an 
influential  position  ;"  he  has  office  and  honor,  and  is  valued 
for  his  ambition  to  be  in  high  places,  and  for  his  successful 
achievement  in  that  direction. 

It  is  also  amusing  to  observe  people  with  a  view  to 
ascertain  in  what  they  pride  themselves  personally.  Some 
glory  in  their  hair,  and  therefore  they  frizzle  it  and  comb 
it  with  dexterous  ingenuity  and  exquisite  care,  and  put 
their  hat  on  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  disturb  it.  One  is 
proud  of  his  mustache  or  his  whiskers,  as  evinced  not  only 
in  wearing  them  in  a  particular  way,  so  as  to  display  them 
ostentatiously  or  uniquely,  but  in  handling  and  petting 
them  continually  when  sitting  at  rest,  or  even  when  walk- 
ing the  streets.  Ladies  having  this  tendency  will  either 
dress  their  hair  in  curls  over  their  shoulders,  and  take  par- 
ticular pains  to  flirt  them  #bout  and  display  them,  or  they 
will  braid,  and  comb,  and  otherwise  display  their  tresses 
with  elaborate  care.  Another  has  a  handsome  neck  or 
fine  bust,  a  pretty  arm  and  a  beautiful  hand,  or  an  elegant 
foot.  A  moment's  attention  will  enable  one  to  see  what  it 
is  in  which  a  person  takes  pride.  You  will  frequently  see 
at  a  lecture,  at  church,  or  at  the  opera,  persons -leaning  on 
the  ring  hand,  and  the  rings  or  bracelets  specially  dis- 
played. One  man  is  proud  of  his  hat,  another  of  his  boots ; 
another  wants  two  dozen  vests  of  fancy  pattern,  and  if  he 
can  have  a  nice  vest  he  cares  little  for  the  boots,  less  for 
the  hair,  and  nothing  for  the  hat ;  another  has  great  pride 
in  his  linen,  and  will  neglect  other  garments  in  order  to 
have  a  splendid  shirt-bosom  and  handsome  wristbands. 

A  friend  of  ours  is  called  crazy  on  canes.  He  has  doz- 
ens of  curiously  and  elegantly  mounted  walking-sticks. 
He  has  on  them  all  strange  devices  and  most  elaborate 
carvings.  This  is  his  weakness.  Another  friend  of  ours 
has  the  amiable  weakness  of  devoting  much  study  on  shirt- 
studs.  He  never  wears  the  same  set  two  days  in  succes- 


APPKOBATIYENESS.  273 

sion,  and  he  has  enough  to  last  him  for  a  week.  One  set  is 
in  imitation  of  a  beautiful  fly,  with  all  its  gorgeous  colors ; 
another  is  in  imitation  of  a  rose ;  others  are  the  heads  of 
animals ;  and  so  on  through  the  chapter. 

A  disposition  so  influential  should  be  properly  culti- 
vated and  rightly  directed.  It  is  certainly  right  in  its 
normal  action;  it  also  ministers  to  virtue  among  those  who 
rise  to  the  medium  position  in  morals,  more  than  to  vice 
among  the  baser  sort  who  glory  in  their  strength,  their 
lust,  their  avarice,  their  courage,  or  their  cruelty. 

This  faculty  sometimes  leads  to  crime  and  sin ;  still,  we 
would  not  blot  it  out  even  from  the  lower  classes,  because 
they  would  then  become  inert  and  comparatively  incapable 
of  being  elevated  above  their  low  position.  We  would 
blot  out  this  faculty  from  the  base  no  quicker  than  we 
would  blot  out  their  physical  power,  merely  because  they 
abuse  it,  but  would  seek  to  direct,  not  only  their  physical 
power,  but  their  ambition  in  the  right  channel. 

When  the  higher  sentiments  prevail,  ambition  and  pride 
minister  to  virtue,  and  to  the  development,  improvement, 
and  happiness  of  mankind.  When  a  man's  ambition  is 
smothered  he  is  comparatively  valueless.  Ambition  is  a 
spur  to  action,  as  the  steam-power  is  the  source  of  propul- 
sion in  a  steamship.  We  would  guide  the  ambition  in  the 
human  mind  as  we  would  employ  the  rudder  to  give 
proper  direction  to  the  steamship ;  then  the  ambition  will 
minister  to  the  benefit  of  the  individual,  as  the  steam-power 
on  shipboard  will  minister  to  a  successful  voyage  when 
the  helm  is  in  skillful  hands. 

Kvrry  faculty  and  propensity  may  become  diseased. 
Insanity  is  more  or  less  partial;  sometimes  the  mania  is  in 
one  faculty,  and  sometimes  in  another;  it  would  be  more 
correct,  however,  to  say  that  one  organ  of  the  brain  is 
diseased  rather  than  one  faculty  is  diseased.  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  we  regard  insanity  as  a  disease  of  a 

12* 


274  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

mental  organ,  not  as  a  disease  of  a  mental  faculty.  The 
brain  becomes  inflamed  or  otherwise  diseased,  and  the 
mind  suffers  in  consequence.  Thus  insane  persons  may  be 
found  in  the  same  institution  who  manifest  their  aberra- 
tions of  mind  in  as  many  different  ways  as  there  are  recog- 
nized faculties.  One  is  insane  in  the  matter  of  sexual 
love,  and  another  from  disappointed  friendship ;  another 
from  the  loss  of  children ;  another  from  the  loss  of  prop- 
erty ;  another  is  insane  in  Destructiveness ;  another  in  Ap- 
probativeness ;  still  another  in  Self-Esteem ;  and  another 
becomes  morbid  in  Conscientiousness ;  another  in  Venera- 
tion ;  another  in  the  mathematical  faculties.  The  same  is 
true  respecting  Cautiousness,  and  the  abnormal  manifes- 
tations of  it  are  exceedingly  painful  to  the  individual. 
We  may  remark  here  that  the  perverted,  excessive,  or 
diseased  action  of  a  faculty  does  not  necessarily  rise  to  the 
point  which  would  be  denominated  insanity.  In  the  case 
of  Approbativeness,  a  person  may  be  excessively  sensitive, 
painfully  alive  to  every  breath  of  slander,  and  exceed- 
ingly inflated  by  praise,  but  is  never  insane  in  the  world's 
estimation ;  just  as  a  person  may  have  an  inflammation  of 
the  physical  system  without  having  it  amount  to  what  is 
called  a  fever,  although  he  is  feverish. 

SELF-ESTEEM. 

From  some  cause,  nearly  every  person  recoils  at  the  idea 
of  being  supposed  to  have  large  Self-Esteem.  We  can 
imagine  that  this  public  sentiment  relative,  to  so  import- 
ant a  sentiment  or  feeling  originated  from  observing  the 
manifestations  of  Self-Esteem  when  excessively  developed 
in  conjunction  with  weak  intellect,  and  perhaps  with  large 
Approbativeness  and  small  Secretiveness.  Such  a  combi- 
nation of  organs  would  tend  to  make  a  person's  conduct 
odious.  We  never  could  keep  a  straight  face,  and  have 


SELF-ESTEEM.  275 

always  wondered  how  the  birds  could,  when  we  sa\v  a 
turkey-cock  strutting  up  and  down,  and  showing  off  be- 
fore his  compeers  and  consorts.  When  men  with  weak 
judgment  and  overweening  pride  and  vanity  resemble 
the  turkey-cock  in  their  conduct,  it  is  with  respect  to  such 
persons,  and  almost  only  then,  that  the  world  recognizes 
the  faculty  of  Self-Esteem  at  all ;  and  when  these  manifesta- 
tions are  considered  to  be  the  outworkings  of  Self-Esteem, 
people  instinctively  and  properly  shrink  from  any  particu- 
lar partiality  for  such  a  faculty.  We  propose  to  show 
that  this  is  an  abnormal  and  warped  manifestation  and 
caricature  of  the  faculty,  and  that  its  normal  development 
and  proper  activity  constitute  one  of  the  most  useful  and 
indispensable  elements  in  a  well-organized  character. 

Self-Esteem  gives  us  the  idea  of  selfhood — of  our  own 
personal  value ;  and  when  it  is  properly  developed,  it 
gives  nobleness  and  self-reliance.  It  is  gratified  with  such 
external  influences  as  tend  to  elevate  and  minister  to  the 
importance  of  the  individual.  That  a  man  should  respect 
himself,  and  claim  the  respect  of  others,  no  one  will  deny; 
that  he  should  respect  and  value  his  own  opinions  and 
what  is  his,  because  they  are  his,  is  equally  clear.  A  cer- 
tain amount  of  personal  dignity  is  necessary  to  make  the 
world  respect  us.  He  who  does  not  respect  himself  will 
not  be  respected ;  and  he  who  will  not  stand  up  for  his 
own  rights,  especially  his  personal  prerogatives,  will  be 
buffeted,  set  aside,  despoiled,  robbed  by  eighth-tenths  of 
the  human  race,  and  by  the  other  two-tenths  pitied. 

Self-Esteem  is  an  element,  also,  in  decision  ;  it  enables 
one  to1  value  his  opinions  and  plans;  and  gives  him  confi- 
dence in  the  exercise  of  his  courage  and  judgment.  With- 
out Self-Esteem  a  man  may  be  passively  virtuous,  but 
throw  him  into  the  strong  currents  of  temptation,  and 
those  who  are  easy  and  self-poised  in  the  possession  of  a 
good  degree  of  Self-Esteem,  will  lead  him  who  lacks  it 


276  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

directly  in  opposition  to  the  monitions  of  his  own  sense 
of  right  and  duty.  Let  a  man  be  made  to  feel  mean  and 
degraded,  let  his  self-respect  be  invaded  and  crushed,  and 
one  of  the  bulwarks  of  his  virtue  and  honor  is  destroyed. 
A  man  with  Self-Esteem  fully  developed,  can  say  Yes  or 
No,  even  though  he  have  not  the  courage  or  the  perseve- 
rance to  do  battle  for  his  principles;  he  may,  at  least, 
stand  his  ground,  or  if  compelled  to  retreat,  he  will  keep 
his  face  toward  the  foe  and  his  desires  and  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  the  promptings  of  duty  and  honor.  That 
pride  which  arises  from  Self-Esteem  frequently  prevents  per- 
sons from  descending  to  practices  of  vice  and  meanness, 
and  in  the  fallen  is  sometimes  the  only  element  that  can 
be  acted  upon  to  effect  their  reformation.  Sometimes  even 
the  gutter  drunkard,  by  being  addressed  through  his 
sense  of  manliness  and  honor,  is  enabled  to  dash  the  cup 
from  his  lips,  and  become  a  man  again.  Those  who  lack 
Self-Esteem,  whatever  may  be  their  talent,  are  apt  to  feel 
unworthy,  diffident,  and  to  have  such  a  sense  of  inferior- 
ity as  to  shrink  from  responsibility,  which  unfits  them  for 
the  discharge  of  important  duties. 

To  the  unequal  development  of  Self-Esteem  may  per- 
haps be  attributed  many  of  the  inequalities  in  society 
which  tend  to  constitute  higher  and  lower  classes.  Dis- 
tinctions are  not  always  based  upon  wealth,  learning,  or 
talent ;  for  we  often  find  talent  too  diffident  to  come  forth 
from  obscurity  and  assume  a  position  in  the  broad  light 
of  notoriety.  We  also  see  persons  of  wealth  and  learn- 
ing who  cringe  before  the  illiterate,  the  poor,  and  those 
who  have  but  little  talent,  but  who  are  endowed  largely 
with  Self-Esteem,  coupled  with  energy  of  character,  which 
feelings  give  a  strong  sense  of  personal  power  and  inde- 
pendence, and  enable  their  possessor  to  conquer  opposi- 
tion and  secure  an  influential  position.  A  young  man  who 
has  fair  talent,  considerable  energy,  and  decided  Self-Es- 


SELF-ESTEEM.  277 

teem  will  content  himself  with  no  subordinate  or  inferior 
position ;  he  feels  capable  of  using  power  and  of  taking 
responsibility;  and  though  intellectually  he  may  not  be 
better  qualified  for  such  position  than  a  hundred  others 
around  him,  yet  his  pride  or  spirit  of  selfhood  leads  him 
to  assume  position,  and  to  work  earnestly  to  fill  that  posi-- 
ticn — he  is  bound  to  be  captain ;  and  while  diffidence  with 
talent  and  skill  may  stand  balancing  between  hope  and 
fear,  desire  and  uncertainty,  self-reliance  elbows  its  way 
through  the  world  and  wins  success  by  daring  to  attempt 
it.  Artificial  distinctions  in  society  may  be  created  by 
titles  and  wealth,  as  in  England,  and  maintained  for  ages, 
but  the  influence  which  is  felt  is  exerted,  more  through  the 
blind  veneration  of  the  masses  than  by  any  real  respect 
for  the  merit  or  the  power  of  the  persons  who  bear  the 
titles  or  possess  the  wealth.  In  that  and  other  countries 
we  occasionally  find  a  Brougham  or  a  Napoleon,  a  Well- 
ington or  a  Copley  (Lord  Lyndhurst),  who  rises  from  pov- 
erty to  the  highest  position  of  influence  and  respect  ability 
by  dint  of  talent,  backed  up  by  self-confidence  and  effort ; 
and  it  is  pleasingly  true  that  these  self-made  men,  even 
among  aristocrats  and  nobles,  have  a  far  greater  rever- 
ence paid  them  than  do  those  who  inherit  wealth  and  rank 
by  the  accident  of  birth  and  so-called  " blood"  We  be- 
lieve in  blood  and  birth,  and  value  people  in  consequence 
of  these ;  but  we  look  for  excellence  in  birth  and  blood  not 
necessarily  in  conjunction  with  artificial  rank  and  wealth, 
but  solely  through  healthy,  well-balanced  organizations, 
refined  and  elevated  by  culture,  and  rendered  illustrious 
by  high  purposes  and  noble  deeds — to  such  an  aristoc- 
racy we  have  no  objection,  but  would  rejoice  in  its  widest 
diffusion.  Nations  in  which  Self-Esteem  is  strong  take 
rank  among  nations  having  the  organ  relatively  smaller, 
as  individuals  having  it  large  outrank  and  govern  persons 
having  it  in  less  degree.  Great  Britain's  spirit  of  conquest 


278  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

and  of  dictation,  and  the  valor  of  her  troops  on  the  field 
of  battle  arid  of  her  manners  on  the  sea,  may  be  attributed, 
in  a  great  degree,  to  the  prominent  national  development 
of  this  organ.  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  in- 
herited from  British  ancestry  a  similar  spirit  of  independ- 
ence, and  in  more  than  one  instance  on  the  field  of  battle 
and  on  the  ocean  have  they  shown  their  inherited  dread 
of  submission,  which  fired  all  the  elements  of  courage  and 
ambition  to  wrench  victory  from  superior  numbers  and 
greater  dynamic  power.  Not  only  on  the  field  of  battle 
does  this  feeling  prompt  nations  to  seek  victory,  but  it  in- 
spires them  to  outstrip  others  in  manufactures,  and  in 
everything  else  that  sustains  national  power  and  glory. 
In  many  matters  of  invention  the  United  States  have  out- 
stripped the  mother  country;  but  England  has  a  sufficient 
amount  of  Self-Esteem  to  give  her  self-complacency  under 
any  defeat  which  she  may  suffer  in  the  line  of  prowess  and 
skill  at  our  hands,  by  the  fact  that  Brother  Jonathan  the 
conqueror  is  "  bone  of  her  bone  and  flesh  of  her  flesh  ; " 
and  by  attributing  our  victories  to  the  British  blood  which 
we  carry,  indirectly  reflects  credit  on  her  after  all,  so  that, 
though  nominally  vanquished,  she  regards  the  victory  as 
almost  her  own,  because  achieved  by  her  sons. 

In  the  training  and  education  of  the  young  this  element 
of  character  should  not  be  crushed,  but  encouraged  and 
properly  directed.  If  a  child  has  a  fair  development  of  it, 
he  should  never  be  degraded  nor  underrated.  If  it  be 
weak  in  him,  it  should  be  encouraged  by  an  address  to  his 
honor  and  manliness.  He  may  be  early  taught  that  some 
actions  are  in  themselves  mean  and  low,  and  therefore  be- 
neath the  true  dignity  of  human  character,  and  he  will 
instinctively  despise  and  avoid  them.  Mothers  sometimes 
call  their  children  debasing  names,  such  as  villain,  scamp, 
simpleton,  dolt.  This  practice  not  only  serves  to  irritate 
and  annoy  the  child,  and  thus  deprave  its  disposition,  but 


SELF-ESTEEM.  279 

it  has  a  direct  tendency  to  lower  the  child  in  his  own  self- 
respect.  If  we  tell  the  child  he  is  a  villain,  and  he  has  any 
respect  for  our  opinion,  it  is  the  very  way  to  make  him 
one  by  blighting  his  sense  of  honor  and  giving  him  a  cra- 
ven spirit  and  a  low  estimate  of  himself.  Approbate  ve- 
ness  and  Combativeness  often  lead  persons  to  boast  and 
brag,  to  praise  themselves  for  what  is  theirs,  and  of  what 
they  have  done;  but  this  manifestation  is  by  many  erro- 
neously attributed  to  Self-Esteem,  which  gives  rather  a 
haughty,  imperious  disposition,  especially  if  it  be  too  strong 
absolutely  or  relatively  in  the  character.  While  we  dis- 
like a  haughty,  supercilious  character,  we  equally  depre- 
cate an  undignified,  submissive,  craven  spirit.  Most  per- 
sons, in  the  training  of  children,  address  Approbativeness 
rather  than  Self-Esteem ;  they  impress  upon  the  child's 
mind  the  idea  that  his  wrong-doings  will  be  unpopular, 
not  that  certain  acts  and  dispositions  are  essentially  mean 
and  unworthy  of  him  as  a  human  being,  whether  the  world 
knows  it  or  not,  A  child  can  be  induced  to  abandon  a 
favorite  pursuit  by  arousing  his  Self-Esteem  to  regard  it  as 
debasing,  mean,  and  undignified,  and  then,  though  his 
friends  and  the  world  do  not  see  his  conduct,  he  will  avoid 
improper  conductor  se  and  for  his  own  sake,  not  to  avoid 
rebuke  or  public  disgrace.  His  virtues  can  also  be  made 
strong  when  his  sense  of  dignity  and  honor  is  combined 
with  the  dictates  of  reason  and  conscience.  Some  persons 
claim  humility  to  be  one  of  the  highest  virtues,  and  that 
true  humility  is  inconsistent  with  the  element  of  Self-Es- 
teem in  character.  Self-love,  by  the  Great  Teacher,  is 
made  the  measure  or  criterion  of  fraternal  love  in  the  com- 
mand. "  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  It  is  easy  to  under- 
stand this  to  mean,  "  Since  it  is  natural  and  proper  that  you 
should  love  self,  and  stand  on  your  dignity  as  a  human 
being,  therefore  love  others  as  well  as  you  do  yourself, 
but  no  better."  It  would  not  be  difficult  to  obey  this  in- 


280  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

junction  if  men's  -social,  moral,  and  intellectual  powers 
were  strong  and  active  enough  to  balance  and  properly 
regulate  the  selfish  propensities,  and  thus  enable  us  to  esti- 
mate every  desire  and  duty  in  its  true  light.  When  we 
hear  persons  say  it  is  impossible  to  obey  the  golden  rule, 
we  suspect  their  selfish  faculties  prevail.  Some  say  there 
is  not  an  honest  man  on  earth.  We  suspect  such  per- 
sons judge  others  by  themselves.  A  man  in  whom  the 
moral  and  intellectual  faculties  prevail  over  the  propensi- 
ties and  passions,  seldom  regards  the  fulfillment  of  the 
golden  rule  as  impossible ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  selfish 
and  animal  propensities  predominate,  the  temptations -to 
gratify  them  in  contradiction  to  moral  restraint  and  intel- 
lectual propriety  are  multiplied. 

Self-Esteem,  whatever  amount  of  popular  prejudice  may 
exist  against  it,  is  amonsr  the  most  ennobling  of  human 

O  .  '  O  O 

characteristics,  and  even  when  it  exists  in  too  great  a 
degree,  its  very  excess  commands  respect,  though  it  may 
not  evoke  our  love. 


CAUTIOUSNESS. 

The  organ  of  Cautiousness  is  situated  on  the  upper  side- 
head  outward  from  the  crown  above  and  a  little  backward 
from  the  ears  It  is  generally  the  widest  part  of  the  head, 
and  frequently  interferes  greatly  with  the  fitting  of  the  hat 
or  the  bonnet.  Anatomically,  it  is  located  in  the  center 
of  the  parietal  bones,  at  the  point  where  ossification  com- 
mences. 

Fear  is  an  element  of  the  mind,  and  Cautiousness  is  the 
organ  through  which  it  is  manifested.  Prudence,  watch- 
fulness, carefulness,  solicitude,  and  anxiety  arise  from  it. 
It  stands  opposed  to  boldness,  rashness,  courage ;  it  bears 
about  the  same  relation  to  the  other  faculties  of  the  mind 
that  hold-back  straps  bear  to  the  other  parts  of  a  harness, 


CAUTIOUSNESS.  281 

or  that  the  brake  does  to  the  operation  of  the  car.  There 
is,  perhaps,  no  more  painful  emotion  than  fear,  nothing  that 
wears  out  the  health  more  than  anxiety.  We  are  organ- 
ized in  such  a  manner,  that  we  are  constantly  liable  to  in- 
jury, and  are  therefore  frequently  subject  to  danger,  and, 
consequently,  Cautiousness  is  an  important  quality  of  the 
mind.  It  should  be  considered  that  this  feeling  is  blind  in 
itself,  has  no  wisdom  or  knowledge ;  it  is  merely  a  feeling, 
a  passion,  or  a  sentiment,  not  an  intellectual  power. 
Its  natural  language  is,  "look  out!"  "beware!"  "take 
care  !  "  but  in  itself  it  can  neither  look  out  nor  take  care. 
The  feeling  which  arises  from  it  affects  all  the  faculties,  in- 
cluding the  intellect,  but  doubtless  it  is  the  intellect  that 
judges  of  that  which  is  dangerous.  It  is  said  that  every 
one  is  a  coward  in  the  dark ;  but  we  have  met  with  per- 
sons who  had  so  little  Cautiousness,  that  we  doubt  their 
being  afraid,  even  in  the  dark.  When  in  consequence  of 
darkness,  or  the  loss  of  any  of  the  senses,  such  as  sight  or 
hearing,  the  intellect  can  not  gain  a  knowledge  of  dangers 
by  which  we  may  be  surrounded,  Cautiousness  becomes 
extra  active;  hence  the  bravest  man  will  hardly  venture 
to  go  forward  in  total  darkness,  lest  he  might  run  against 
something  or  fall  from  a  precipice ;  and  the  wisest  man, 
therefore,  is  the  one  who  stands  stock-still  if  he  has  no 
knowledge  as  to  the  ground  upon  which  he  is  situated. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  human  mind,  composed 
of  many  faculties,  works  not  by  isolated  parts  merely,  but 
that  each  power  or  faculty  acts  upon  all,  and  this  is  modi- 
fied by  every  other.  These  modifications  are  frequently 
moderate  or  gentle  in  their  effects  —  sometimes  bold, 
prompt,  and  outspoken. 

In  its  healthy  action,  Cautiousness  tends  to  check  the 
ravings  of  Combativeness,  and  adds  prudence  to  courage; 
it  warns  enraged  Destructiveness  to  avoid  undue  severity, 
and  holds  back  the  arm  raised  to  strike  with  a  deadly 


282  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

weapon ;  it  whispers  to  Acquisitiveness  of  future  want,  of 
losses,  and  poverty ;  it  tends  to  give  to  Benevolence  a 
judicious  administration  to  bounty  lest  the  fountain  fail ; 
it  admonishes  Approbativeness  to  beware  of  such  society 
and  conduct  as  will  impair  reputation  and  bring  disgrace ; 
it  acts  through  Parental  Love  to  incite  the  mother  to 
watch  against  all  evil  to  her  child ;  it  stands  at  the  elbow 

O  7 

of  Hope,  true  to  its  location  on  the  head,  suggesting  the 
necessity  of  laying  a  solid  foundation  for  anticipations, 
and  frequently  casts  shadows  upon  the  bright  images 
which  Hope  creates,  or  as  frequently  dashes  its  baseless 
fabrics  to  the  dust ;  it  stimulates  the  intellect  to  make  such 
investigations  as  will  administer  to  the  well-being  of  the 
individual,  and  to  plan  such  a  safe  course  as  shall  insure 
security  to  its  possessor.  A  proper  development  of  Cau- 
tiousness is  useful  in  restraining  such  a  manifestation  of 
all  the  powers  as  would  be  dangerous  to  the  life,  health, 
and  happiness  of  the  individual 

On  the  other  hand,  when  it  is  excessively  developed,  it 
throws  a  somber  cloud  over  all  the  manifestations,  and  para- 
lyzes courage,  energy,  determination,  and  hope;  it  smoth- 
ers enterprise,  dampens  ambition,  undermines  the  self-re- 
spect, and  changes  the  action  of  Veneration  from  a  due 
adoration  to  a  slavish  fear  of  God ;  it  unnerves  perseve- 
rance, casting  doubt  upon  the  action  of  the  intellect,  and 
makes  its  possessor  a  tame,  timid  slave  of  fear.  When  the 
organ  is  small,  the  effects  are  directly  opposite.  It  allows 
Hope  to  revel  in  perpetual  anticipation,  and  permits  im- 
agination to  career  through  the  universe  without  rudder 
or  ballast ;  it  permits  profuseness  in  expenditure  without 
complaint,  makes  one  reckless  of  all  dangers,  and  allows 
him  to  run  into  troubles,  perplexities,  and  difficulties  on 
every  hand. 

The  proper  training  of  this  faculty  is  of  very  great  im- 
portance, yet  of  very  rare  occurrence.  If  it  be  about 


A   CONGKESS   OF  FACULTIES.  283 

average  in  development,  it  should  be  judiciously  addressed 
in  connection  with  all  the  other  faculties.  In  respect  to 
certain  practices,  we  may  properly  say  to  the  child's  intel- 
lect, "  The  course  you  propose  to  pursue  would  be  highly 
improper  and  unreasonable ;  to  Conscientiousness  it  would 
be  dishonest  and  unjust;  to  Veneration  it  would  offend 
against  the  purity  and  holiness  of  God,  or  against  a  proper 
respect  for  superiors ;  to  Acquisitiveness  it  would  incur 
excessive  expense,  and  cost  more  than  it  would  be  worth ; 
to  Approbativeness  it  would  be  unpopular,  and  bring  dis- 
grace ;  to  Self-Esteem  it  would  be  dishonorable,  unmanly, 
and  mean ;  to  Adhesiveness  it  would  wound  the  sensibility 
of  friends :  to  Amativeness  it  would  be  ungallant  or  in- 

o 

delicate  and  offensive  to  the  opposite  sex ;  and,  finally,  to 
Cautiousness  it  is  not  only  dangerous  in  itself,  but  there  is 
a  secondary  danger,  which  involves  the  unhappiness  of  all 
the  faculties,  or  of  all  the  interests  of  the  individual; 
therefore  the  act  should  not  be  indulged  in.  Through  the 
intellect,  all  these  faculties  may  become  aroused  to  act 
in  conjunction  with  Cautiousness  to  dissuade  the  man  from 
a  particular  course.  When  all  these  powers  are  aroused, 
it  would  be  very  difficult  to  overcome  such  a  phalanx  by 
addressing  any  single  faculty.  Most  people  when  they 
have  done  wrong,  especially  if  they  are  hasty,  ardent  per- 
sons, plead  as  an  excuse,  "  I  did  not  think,"  "  I  did  not 
recognize  the  danger  or  the  disgrace."  Cautiousness  large 
is  likely  to  promote  thoughtfulness  where  danger  is  possi- 
ble or  probable.  When  all  the  faculties  are  equally  strong 
in  the  mind  of  a  child,  such  a  method  of  training  as  above 
suggested  will  be  appropriate. 

The  grand  error  which  most  persons  make  in  training 
children,  or  in-  managing  adults,  is  to  appeal  to  the  strong- 
est faculty.  -Thus,  if  Approbativeness  rules,  disgrace  and 
public  sentiment  are  the  only  bugbears  addressed  to  the 
contemplation;  and  by  such  a  course  of  training  that 


284  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

faculty  becomes,  as  it  were,  the  only  conscience  the  child 
has.  When  Cautiousness  is  too  strong,  it  is  the  master 
element ;  consequently,  mothers,  nurses,  and  teachers 
attempt  to  awaken  fear  and  arouse  a  sense  of  danger  on 
all  occasions.  This  may  frighten  the  child  into  temporary 
obedience ;  but  there  is  no  more  real  integrity  and  honesty 
in  such  obedience  than  there  is  in  that  fear  which  the  whip 
awakens  in  the  horse  or  ox.  Fear  alone  induces  the  obe- 
dience, and  it  is  precisely  so  with  the  child  if  Cautiousness 
be  the  ruling  power,  and  the  address  or  influence  is 
brought  chiefly  to  bear  on  that  faculty.  Such  appeals  to 
this  excessively  developed  faculty  tend  to  increase  the  size 
of  the  organ,  making  the  character  still  more  unbalanced 
and  warped.  The  organ  sometimes  becomes  inflamed, 
really  diseased,  and  hundreds  have  become  insane  through 
its  excessive  excitability.  In  the  training  of  extra  Cau- 
tiousness and  timidity  we  should  never  threaten  fearful 
punishments,  such  as  shutting  up  the  child  in  the  dark, 
extracting  its  teeth,  or  cutting  its  ears  off*,  or  giving  it  to 
"  the  old  beggar-man  "  to  carry  off,  or  calling  the  big  dog 
or  the  rats,  for  by  these  means  we  enkindle  undying  fear 
on  the  altar  of  the  child's  Cautiousness ;  and  though, 
when  he  is  old  enough  to  understand  that  the  threats  were 
made  to  be  believed,  but  not  to  be  executed,  he  can  not 
rid  himself  of  their  influence  on  his  disposition;  and  he 
not  only  loses  his  respect  for  our  veracity,  but  all  the 
sad  effects  of  nerve-shattering  fear  cling  to  him  for  life. 

When  Cautiousness  is  very  large  and  active  in  children, 
they  are  apt  to  be  excessively  bashful  in  the  presence  of 
strangers.  To  the  fond  and  ambitious  mother  this  is  a 
source  of  intense  humiliation.  She  would  fain  have  her 
children  appear  intelligent  and  self-possessed,  especially  in 
the  presence  of  her  valued  friends.  We  know  of  nothing 
which  makes  a  mother  feel  more  chagrin  and  embarrass- 
ment than  to  have  her  children  appear  like  fools  when  her 


EXCESSIVE  CAUTIOUSNESS.  285 

former  associates  call  upon  her  —  perhaps  for  the  first 
time  since  her  marriage  —  to  have  them  run  behind 
chairs,  keep  out  of  sight,  cover  their  eyes  with  their  arms, 
or  run  like  wild  birds.  The  mother  in  her  vexation  fre- 
quently makes  the  matter  worse  for  the  child  by  chiding 
it,  calling  it  foolish,  and  she  threatens,  perhaps  shakes  or 
pinches  the  poor,  timid  creature,  while  the  amiable  friends 
chime  in,  trying  to  persuade  it  that  they  wTill  not  hurt  it. 
Thus  everything  which  is  said  and  done  is  addressed 
directly  to  the  child's  Cautiousness,  and  makes  the  sufferer 
feel  ten  times  more  diffident  than  ever.  The  child  in  its 
embarrassment  thinks  the  visit  is  made  on  purpose  to  pro- 
mote its  misery,  the  mother  and  the  visitors  seeming  bent 
on  producing  an  involuntary  intimacy.  Sometimes,  when 
the  company  has  retired,  the  mother  berates  and  scolds 
her  child,  threatens  to  whip  it  if  she  does  not  actually  do 
it,  to  shut  it  up  in  a  dark  room  if  it  ever  again  conducts 
so  badly  in  company,  and  it  thus  lives  in  constant  fear  of 
other  calls  and  another  miserable  hour,  and  the  threatened 
consequences  of  constitutional  bashfulness.  When  the 
door-bell  rings  or  a  carriage  drives  up  to  the  house,  and 
the  mother  is  engaged  in  receiving  the  visitors,  the  child 
endeavors  to  make  good  his  retreat  to  avoid  a  complicatiou 
of  evils.  Perhaps  he  skulks  away  in  some  back  hall  or 
cold  room  and  there  palpitates  with  fear,  expecting,  if 
found,  to  be  dragged  into  the  presence  of  strangers,  or  get 
a  whipping,  or  be  imprisoned  in  a  dark  cellar  for  showing 
an  unconquerable  timidity  instead  of  an  impossible  forti- 
tude. The  mother  remembering  how  foolishly  her  children 
have  acted  in  the  presence  of  strangers,  is  perhaps  glad  to 
be  rid  of  their  presence,  and  it  they  are  inquired  for,  she 
replies,  carelessly,  "  Oh,  they  are  about  somewhere,"  but 
takes  no  pains  to  have  them  found  and  brought  in,  or  to 
ascertain  that  they  are  comfortable ;  and  they  are  per- 
mitted to  shiver  for  an  hour  with  fear  and  cold  ill  some 


286  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

safe  hiding-place.  Everybody  will  see  that  this  is  wretched 
management,  and,  in  the  light  of  our  subject,  that  it  is  cal- 
culated to  increase,  but  never  to  cure,  the  difficulty ;  and 
the  question  arises,  how  can  such  children  be  trained  to 
make  a  proper  appearance,  and  how  can  their  excessive 
timidity  and  bashfulness  be  allayed  ? 

Phrenology  solves  this  difficulty  easily,  and  the  solution 
appears  so  perfectly  natural  and  simple,  that  most  persons, 
when  it  is  presented,  think  that  it  is  not  science,  but  com- 
mon sense,  and  therefore  endeavor  to  defraud  Phrenology 
of  the  credit  of  its  discovery,  forgetting  that  science  is 
only  common  sense  organized,  and  that  phrenological 
science,  like  many  other  kinds  of  scientific  truth,  becomes 
common,  and  is  blended  with  the  general  current  of  popu- 
lar knowledge.  The  exposition  of  the  practical  method 
of  managing  bashful  children  is  simply  this :  the  trouble 
to  be  obviated  is  the  great  excess  of  Cautiousness  in  the 
child  who  has,  perhaps,  a  nervous  temperament,  which 
makes  it  peculiarly  susceptible.  Now,  that  which  is  requir- 
ed to  be  done  is,  to  allay  the  excitement  of  Cautiousness ; 
consequently  no  appeal  should  be  made  to  it,  but  everything 
that  is  said  or  done  should  be  addressed  exclusively  to  the 
other  faculties.  Suppose,  then,  that  company  comes  in, 
and  the  child  appears  timid ;  let  neither  the  mother  nor 
the  visitors  appear  to  notice  that  the  child  is  present ;  let 
it  alone — do  not  look  at  it  or  speak  to  it,  but  let  joyous 
and  familiar  conversation  be  unrestrained  between  the 
parent  and  the  visitor.  If  the  child  be  unnoticed,  its  Cau- 
tiousness will  be  in  a  few  moments  partially  allayed,  its 
curiosity  excited,  and  perhaps  it  will  venture  slyly  to  ap- 
proach the  stranger  to  obtain  a  better  position  to  see,  hear, 
and  enjoy.  If  the  stranger  desires  to  m,nke  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  child,  it  is  very  easy  to  start  some  subject  that 
will  awaken  its  interest  by  talking  of  picture  books,  hobby 
horses,  kites,  hoops,  or  of  little  boys  and  girls  at  home, 


DISEASED  CAUTIOUSNESS.  287 

and  this  should  be  done  without  looking  sternly  at  the 
child.  Nothing  is  so  cowering  to  bashfulness  as  the  direct, 
earnest  gaze  of  a  stranger.  A  well-timed  reference,  in  an 
easy,  careless  manner,  to  such  things  as  the  child  can  un- 
derstand, and  in  which  he  may  be  supposed  to  feel  an 
interest,  will  make  his  little  heart  pulsate  with  a  pleasant 
excitement.  How  will  the  little  eyes  dilate  and  sparkle 
with  joy,  and  how  will  the  fancy,  imagination,  and  intellect 
"  devour  up  the  discourse  !  "  he  will  instantly  approach  the 
stranger  with  deep  interest  in  all  that  is  said,  and  stammer 
out  a  childish  reply,  without  fear,  or  the  consciousness  that 
a  stranger  is  present.  The  Cautiousness  of  the  child  is 
now  of  course  allayed.  What  has  become  of  its  fear?  It 
has  been  hushed  to  repose,  and  the  stranger  discovers 
what  the  mother  knew  before,  that  the  child  is  not  a  fool, 
but  an  intelligent,  happy  being. 

We  should  be  ashamed  not  to  be  able  to  allay  the 
fear  of  the  most  timid  child  in  ten  minutes,  so  that  it 
would  be  willing  to  talk,  or  approach  us  without  fear.  So 
many  times  have  we  tried  the  experiment,  that  we  have 
but  little  patience  with  people  who  manage  timid  children 
as  we  have  before  described,  when  they  might  save  them- 
selves all  the  inconvenience  and  trouble  which  timidity 
produces,  and  procure  a  complete  and  controlling  influence 
over  the  child  in  so  happy  a  manner  and  with  such  readi- 
ness and  case,  it  they  would  but  study  the  theory  of  train- 
ing which  Phrenology  affords. 

The  symptoms  of  diseased  Cautiousness  usually  are, 
over-anxiety,  apprehensiveness,  brooding  melancholy,  fore- 
cast, timidity,  trembling  anxiety  about  everything  which 
involves  possibility  of  danger  or  difficulty,  and  this 
against  the  person's  own  judgment.  People  sometimes 
say,  "  I  am  safe,  but,  still,  I  fear."  It,  may  not  be  so  easy 
to  suggest  a  cure ;  but  rest  and  non-excitement  of  the 
organs  of  Cautiousness  are  about  as  essential  to  its  cure  as 


288  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

a  dark  room  and  cooling  applications  are  essential  to  the 
cure  of  inflamed  eyes.  All  excesses  of  excitement  in  the 
faculty  should  be  removed  or  avoided,  as  we  shield  the 
lacerated  flesh  from  the  air  and  from  contact  with  external 
objects  by  putting  a  plaster  or  bandage  on  it.  Another 
way  of  restraining  the  undue  action  of  this  organ  is  by 
introducing  to  the  subject  pleasant,  joyous,  cheerful  sub- 
jects and  associations.  An  English  gentleman  having  a 
great  sense  of  safety,  desired  to  employ  a  coachman  who 
would  be  as  careful  as  he  desired,  and  having  advertised 
for  one — having  numerous  applications  for  the  place — he 
decided  which  would  best  secure  his  required  safety  by 
carefully  asking  each  one  how  near  he  thought  he  could 
drive  to  a  square  precipice  without  being  in  danger  of 
going  over.  One  thought  he  could  drive  within  a  few  feet ; 
another,  within  half  a  yard ;  and,  finally,  an  Irishman,  on 
being  questioned,  replied,  "  Ah  !  your  honor,  I  would  drive 
as  far  from  it  as  possible,  and  I  would  not  go  near  it  at  all, 
at  all."  "  You  are  the  coachman  for  me,"  replied  the  gen- 
tleman, and  he  was  right.  So  we  say  of  the  treatment  of 
people  with  diseased  Cautiousness ;  keep  them  as  far  from 
danger  as  you  can,  and  when  trouble  comes,  soothe  them 
by  calmness,  and  by  the  assurance  that  the  danger  is  not 
imminent,  and,  in  short,  keep  the  faculty  from  excitement, 
and  the  organ  will  get  well. 

Strong  faculties  sometimes  act  as  helps  and  sometimes 
as  hindrances  —  it  depends  on  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  are  called  into  action.  The  action  of  the  fac- 
ulties, moreover,  is  pleasurable  or  painful,  according  to  the 
condition  under  which  they  are  exercised.  Cautiousness, 
for  example,  when  a  person  is  trying  to  cross  a  crowded 
street  among  the  clashing  vehicles,  produces  unhappiness 
and  pain ;  but  when  the  difficulty  is  fairly  overcome,  and 
he  is  safely  landed  on  the  opposite  side,  the  action  of 
Cautiousness  brings  a  sense  of  safety,  and  the  result  is 


CAUTIOUSNESS.  289 

great  pleasure  and  gratification,  Cautiousness  under  some 
circumstances  renders  a  person  cringing,  weak,  retiring, 
full  of  trepidation,  and  makes  him  utterly  miserable.  But 
let  the  individual  be  placed  in  imminent  peril,  but  in  such 
a  position  that  he  can  not  retreat,  can  not  evade,  hide,  or 
flee  from  the  danger,  then  Cautiousness  becomes  a  power- 
ful stimulant  in  the  form  of  fear,  and  the  man  will  fight 
against  any  odds,  and,  as  the  saying  is,  "  sell  his  life  as 
dearly  as  possible."  His  bravery  in  such  a  case  is  not 
cool,  not  collected,  not  self-possessed,  but  fierce  as  despe- 
ration itself  can  make  it.  The  coward,  when  cornered, 
will  fight  for  his  life  with  greater  effect,  sometimes,  than  a 
man  of  courage,  because  his  fear  realizes  to  him  with  ex- 
treme vividness  the  peril  of  being  conquered  and  crushed ; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  the  man  of  courage,  who  has  but 
little  fear,  apprehends  but  little  in  the  way  of  suffering  a 
defeat.  If  two  men  fight,  the  man  with  large  Combative- 
:md  small  Cautiousness  having  knocked  down  his  op- 
ponent will  stand  back  and  wait  for  him  to  arise ;  whereas 
the  man  with  excessive  Cautiousness  and  small  Combat- 
iveness,  if  he  succeed  in  knocking  down  his  opponent,  is 
afraid  to  let  him  up,  and  will  follow  up  his  blows,  perhaps, 
till  he  has  utterly  disabled  or  killed  his  fallen  antagonist. 
Many  a  man  commits  murder  on  account  of  large  Cautious- 
ness. Having  knocked  down  or  seriously  injured  another, 
he,  fearing  the  penalty  for  what  he  has  done,  or  fearing 
that  if  he  lets  his  antagonist  up  he  may  get  the  advantage 
of  him,  and  perhaps  take  his  life,  strikes  the  fatal  blow  and 
becomes  a  murderer.  Thus  robbers,  having  plundered  their 
victims  and  subjected  themselves  to  the  liability  of  the  pen- 
itentiary or  the  gallows,  will  finish  their  work  by  murder, 
under  the  motto  —  "dead  men  tell  no  tales."  As  they 
think  their  chances  of  detection  will  be  less  than  if  they 
allow  their  victim  to  live  to  appear  against  them,  and 
perl  laps  identify  them,  they  commit  a  double  crime,  not 

13 


290  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

through  any  desire  to  evince  cruelty,  but  through  fear 
alone.  This  conduct  may  seem  paradoxical,  but  it  is  per- 
fectly logical.  Their  fear  induces  them  to  count  the 
chances,  and  between  two  evils  choose  the  least,  or  the 
one  which  promises  the  least  danger  to  themselves ;  and 
since  robbery,  which  they  have  committed,  perhaps  is 
punished  by  death,  and  robbery  and  murder  both  can  be 
but  death,  and  since  detection  is  less  certain  with  the  victim 
dead  than  alive,  the  sense  of  safety  impels  the  last  act. 

ACQUISITIVENESS. 

This  faculty  is  given  to  prompt  man  to  lay  up  food  and 
other  articles  of  value  for  future  use;  it  is  eminently  a 
providing  faculty.  It  is  also  possessed  by  some  animals, 
to  impel  them  to  acquire  or  lay  up  in  time  of  abundance 
for  a  time  of  scarcity ;  to  gather  the  fruits  of  summer  for 
use  during  the  dreary  winter.  In  other  classes  of  the 
lower  animals  there  is  no  trace  of  it ;  they  exhibit  no  de- 
sire to  gather  and  lay  up,  and  no  perception  of  the  hoard- 
ing principle.  In  his  valuable  treatise  on  Human  Rights, 
Judge  Hurlbut  illustrates  this  truth  as  follows :  "  A  quan- 
tity of  corn  being  thrown  upon  the  ground  within  the 
reach  of  a  flock  of  fowls,  each  one  will  greedily  devour 
all  that  is  required  to  satisfy  the  appetite  and  will  go  away 
without  caring  as  to  what  remains,  without  gathering  up 
or  secreting  anything  for  future  use." 

It  is  well  known  that  a  squirrel,  on  the  contrary,  if  he 
were  to  discover  the  corn  upon  the  ground,  would  exhibit 
unwearied  industry  in  carrying  it  off  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble to  his  nest  or  hollow  tree,  until  the  last  kernel  had 
disappeared,  before  he  would  attempt  to  satisfy  his  pres- 
ent hunger.  Thus  he  would  find  himself  in  possession  of 
a  supply  of  food  for  many  months.  The  unacquiring 
fowl,  however,  when  again  hungry,  would  return  for 


ACQUISITIVENESS.  291 

another  meal  but  find  nothing  left  to  supply  it,  the 
squirrel  in  the  mean  time  having  appropriated  the  whole 
of  it  to  himself. 

The  bee  is  an  eminent  instance  of  the  acquiring  instinct ; 
it  lays  up  its  food  during  the  long  summer,  eating  what  it 
needs  day  by  day  of  the  honey  which  it  gathers,  and 
laying  by  a  surplus  not  only  for  its  own  use  in  winter  but 
as  food  for  its  young. 

Birds  supply  their  wants  as  best  they  may  from  day  to 
day  with  no  apparent  care  for  the  future  relative  to  food. 
Such  birds  as  live  in  high  northern  latitudes  and  do  not 
migrate  are  forced  to  pick  up  during  the  winter  a  preca- 
rious subsistence.  The  crow,  the  hawk,  the  partridge,  the 
snow-bird  are  instances;  but  the  robin,  the  wild  goose, 
the  bobolink,  and  many  other  species,  raise  their  broods 
in  the  north,  and  when  their  natural  food  begins  to  fail 
they  migrate  southward,  as  far,  perhaps,  as  from  Vermont 
to  Virginia,  or  from  New  York  to  Georgia,  where  nature 
furnishes  them  a  climate  to  their  taste  and  food  for  their 
daily  wants.  The  fox  makes  his  meal  from  his  prey,  and 
if  there  is  any  surplus  he  buries  it  for  future  use,  and  will 
fight  for  it  as  property.  The  wolf  will  fight  over  a 
carcass  for  a  present  supply,  but  when  satisfied  does  not, 
so  far  as  we  know,  protect  what  is  left  nor  regard  it  in 
the  light  of  a  possession  for  use  hereafter. 

The  proper  exercise  of  this  faculty  in  the  human  race, 
how  it  shall  be  cultivated  when  too  weak  and  restrained 
when  too  strong,  is  an  inquiry  of  serious  import.  If  we 
were  to  canvass  the  world  and  seek  the  solution  of  this 
problem  by  the  universal  verdict  of  men,  we  should  fail  to 
obtain  a  philosophical  solution  of  the  subject,  because  in 
most  countries  this  is  the  reigning  faculty.  Among  savage 
tribes  the  idea  of  property  exists,  though  not  in  a  high  de- 
gree ;  but  as  men  become  civilized,  and  live  under  laws 
and  constitutions  which  protect  persons  and  property  more 


292  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

perfectly,  the  all-absorbing  inquiry  seems  to  be,  how  can 
I  become  rich  ?  Thus,  the  faculty  being  too  highly  stimu- 
lated, exists  in  a  perverted  state.  Each  is  eager  to  be  rich, 
while  the  entire  property  of  the  world,  at  its  highest  mar- 
ket value,  if  equally  divided  among  mankind  would  leave 
to  each  person  a  few  dollars  at  most.  He  who  has  a  crav- 
ing desire  to  be  rich,  unless  the  substance  of  the  wealth 
he  covets  is  to  be  created  by  his  own  efforts,  must  enter- 
tain this  feeling  at  the  expense  of  a  majority  of  his  fellows. 
Until  society  shall  be  reformed  in  respect  to  the  activity 
of  this  faculty,  the  true  standard  for  its  exercise  will  not 
be  attained.  When  man's  real  wants  shall  be  ascertained, 
and  he  shall  have  such  training  of  all  the  faculties  as  to 
make  him  willing  to  accept  and  to  be  satisfied  with  what 
is  really  necessary,  or  look  to  his  own  creative,  produc- 
tive, energetic  skill  for  the  supply  of  his  wishes,  he  will 
be  guided  by  a  false  standard,  arid  will  entertain  a  craving 
desire  either  on  a  wrong  basis  or  at  the  expense  of  his  fel- 
low-men. The  present  speculative  spirit,  when  viewed  from 
a  proper  standpoint,  is  a  crime  against  the  race.  Since 
there  is  not  property  enough  in  the  world  to  make  all  rich, 
those  who  become  rich  by  traffic  and  speculation  gener- 
ally accomplish  it  by  such  management  as  enables  them 
to  feather  their  own  nests  at  the  expense  of  the  labor  and 
productive  skill  of  millions.  Thus,  while  a  few  become 
rich,  the  mass  remains  poor. 

Labor  alone  will  hardly  make  any  man  rich.  Sometimes 
it  is  achieved  by  some  rare  discovery  or  invention,  and 
the  penniless  man  becomes  a  millionaire,  without  traffic 
or  selfish  business  operations ;  then  it  is  the  discovery  or 
invention,  not  mere  labor.  Large  manufacturing  establish- 
ments, where  the  many  contribute  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
few,  and  mercantile  and  managing  transactions  where  tri- 
bute is  taken  from  thousands  and  deposited  in  the  coffers 
of  the  few — it  is  from  these  sources  the  large  fortunes  are 


ACQUISITIVENESS.  293 

gained.  The  man  of  eminent  talent  who  can  plan  for  a 
thousand  and  employ  them  at  good  wages,  may  honestly 
make  a  fortune  as  the  fair  remuneration  of  his  skill — the 
laborers  being  better  provided  through  his  agency  than 
they  could  be  by  their  own  unaided  efforts. 

The  primitive  design  of  the  faculty  is  to  inspire  every 
human  being  with  the  sphit  of  industry  and  frugality,  to 
lay  aside  from  the  earnings  of  youth  and  health  for  sick- 
ness and  for  age ;  to  amass  property  partly  by  economy 
in  reference  to  our  present  wants,  and  by  active,  well-di- 
rected industry  to  acquire  the  means  for  the  development, 
rearing,  and  education  of  the  young.  It  may  be  gravely 
doubted  whether  it  be  well  for  children  that  parents  amass 
for  them  such  fortunes  as  will  obviate  the  necessity  of 
industry  and  frugality  on  their  part  to  meet  the  common 
wants  of  their  own  lives  and  those  of  their  children  during 
minority.  When  a  man  becomes  a  millionaire,  his  chil- 
dren generally  become  useless  drones  in  society,  and  the 
world  is  not  benefited  by  their  existence.  They  never 
build  houses  or  ships;  they  will  not  navigate  the  ocean, 
till  the  soil,  or  follow  any  productive  occupation ;  but 
they  consume  the  property  which  their  fathers  have  with 
industry — perhaps  graspingly  and  unrighteously — taken 
from  the  past  generation. 

The  laws  of  trade  as  they  exist  at  present  are  based 
upon  excessive  Acquisitiveness.  Public  sentiment  on  this 
subject  is  grossly  perverted,  yet  men  are  not  conscious  of 
it.  How  shall  I  make  money  ?  by  what  means  shall  I  be- 
come rich  ?  seems  the  embodiment  of  public  sentiment,  and 
tliis  thought  is  one  of  tlie  earliest  lessons  taught  to  the 
rising  generation.  While  it  is  regarded  as  the  badge  of 
respectability,  men  are  measured  by  their  amount  of  gold 
or  the  number  of  their  broad  acres.  The  fact  of  being 
lied  in  the  world's  estimation  by  the  property  they  can 
command,  and  not  by  their  moral  and  intellectual  excel- 


294  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

lence,  sets  on  fire  the  youthful  mind  to  run  that  race,  for- 
getting most,  if  not  all,  collateral  interests.  A  public  sen- 
timent which  respects  a  man  because  he  is  rich  and 
neglects  and  despises  another  because  he  is  poor,  awakens 
every  nerve,  arouses  ambition  and  energy,  calls  out  the 
intellect,  develops  the  mechanical  skill,  harnessing  all 
these  elements  to  the  car  of  acquisition,  so  that  they  be- 
come the  willing  servants  of  this  master  passion.  In  such 
a  system  of  training,  with  such  a  public  sentiment  to  live 
and  act  in,  is  it  strange  that  the  world  becomes  a  grand 
shaving  shop,  and  that  men  grow  up  greedy  as  tigers  for 
their  prey  in  pursuit  of  wealth  ? 

Something  besides  Acquisitiveness  is  necessary  to  the 
successful  prosecution  of  business  and  the  accumulation  of 
wealth.  Those  who  are  possessed  of  skill  and  talent,  with 
a  fair  degree  of  moral  feeling,  even  though  their  Acquisi- 
tiveness be  as  strong  and  active  as  such  an  education 
would  render  it,  will,  by  the  over-mastering  power  of  that 
talent,  accumulate  wealth,  and  do  it  within  the  pale  of 
civil  law.  They  plan,  devise  ways  and  means,  see  results 
before  they  are  reached,  anticipate  improvements  and 
depressions  in  business  affairs,  and  know  when  to  let  out 
and  when  to  take  in ;  these  get  rich,  and  do  it  honestly, 
lawfully,  respectably.  But  those,  on  the  contrary,  w^ho 
have  but  little  mechanical  skill,  and  are  wanting  in  energy 
and  industry ;  those  who  have  not  the  talent  necessary  to 
perfect  far-seeing  plans  for  acquiring  property ;  those,  also, 
who  lack  the  shrewdness  to  compete  with  the  artful,  will 
find  themselves  poor,  neglected,  and,  in  the  world's  esti- 
mation, disreputable.  Thrifty,  wide-awake,  industrious, 
and  prosperous  people  always  look  down  contemptuously 
upon  shiftless,  listless,  unskillful,  and  unsuccessful  men, 
however  good  and  virtuous.  Persons  finding  themselves 
pinched  with  want,  their  children  suffering  privations,  are 
driven  to  desperation.  This  intense  love  for  their  families, 


ACQUISITIVENESS.  295 

those  holy  feelings  which,  under  favorable  circumstances, 
minister  to  virtue  and  happiness,  under  the  pressure  of 
such  poverty  and  privation,  have  a  directly  opposite  tend- 
ency. Many  a  man  in  such  a  position  has  been  led  to  steal 
and  rob,  and  has  found  himself  on  the  criminal  list,  not 
because  he  was  by  nature  vicious,  or  coveted  his  neigh- 
bor's property,  but  because  he  had  not  the  shrewdness, 
talent,  and  industry  to  acquire  the  comforts  and  necessa- 
ries of  life  in  a  legitimate  manner,  and  to  save  his  loved 
ones  from  cold  and  hunger  has  violated  the  criminal  law. 
Moreover,  such  persons  may  labor,  but  they  have  too  little 
skill  to  make  that  labor  highly  successful ;  and  being  sur- 
rounded by  sharpers,  and  those  who,  by  management,  con- 
trive to  absorb  the  profits  of  their  labor,  they  remain  poor 
from  year  to  year,  and  the  history  of  such  people  is  one 
of  privation,  if  not  of  suffering  and  crime.  Now,  in  what 
consists  the  remedy  for  gigantic  evils  such  as  these  ? 
This,  surely,  is  not  the  natural  state  of  man;  a  single 
propensity,  one  selfish  desire,  Acquisitiveness,  should  not 
rule  the  human  race  with  such  despotic  sway. 

In  tropical  climes,  man,  in  his  savage  state,  has  but  little 
of  the  faculty  of  Acquisitiveness.  While  his  wants  are 
few,  this  organ  is  small ;  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact,  that 
in  the  African  race  we  seldom  find  this  organ  large ;  and 
although  they  are  accused  of  stealing,  it  is  the  result  of 
thriftlessness,  and  too  little  Acquisitiveness  to  prompt 
them  to  provide  for  prospective  want ;  and  consequently, 
becoming  destitute,  they  steal  to  supply  their  present 
need.  In  their  native  land,  where  they  can  reach  forth 
the  hand  and  pluck  the  fruits  of  eternal  summer,  and  in  a 
climate  where  they  require  no  houses  and  clothing  to 
shelter  them  from  wintry  blasts,  Acquisitiveness  is  neither 
required  nor  developed. 

But  as  man  wanders  from  the  equator  into  colder  lati- 
tudes, clothing,  shelter,  and  accumulation  of  food  for  win- 


296  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

ter  are  necessary ;  and  with  such  people  the  organ  is  more 
amply  developed,  together  with  those  qualities  of  ingenu- 
ity and  energy  which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  skill  and 
industry,  than  in  people  living  in  hot  climates.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  argue  the  importance  of  this  faculty,  as  the 
provider  of  the  absolute  necessaries  of  life,  nor  to  state 
that  it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  those  faculties  which 
enable  us  to  enjoy  the  comforts  of  a  sufficiency,  and  the 
means  for  the  gratification  of  taste ;  but  there  is  a  proper 
limit  to  its  development  and  activity,  beyond  which  its 
exercise  becomes  vicious.  A  morbid  Acquisitiveness, 
which  gives  an  excessive  desire  to  acquire,  is  akin  to  that 
feverish  state  of  Amativeness  which  leads  to  licentious- 
ness, or  to  that  of  Alimentiveness,  which  produces  intem- 
perance. 

This  faculty  should  be  trained  equally  with  Conscien- 
tiousness, Benevolence,  Cautiousness,  and  Friendship. 
Every  young  man  should  be  trained  to  feel  that  the 
human  race  is  a  great  brotherhood,  that  each  man  has 
rights  as  well  as  himself,  that  each  has  no  right  to  the 
earnings  of  others  without  a  fair  equivalent,  and  that  this 
faculty  should  be  used  for  the  public  good  as  well  as  for 
private  gain.  Some  men  who  account  themselves  honest 
do  not  scruple  to  defraud  the  government  of  the  city, 
state,  or  nation,  but  would  feel  guilty  for  perpetrating  a 
like  fraud  upon  a  person  whom  they  knew. 

In  our  country,  there  is  coming  to  be  a  public  sentiment 
adverse  to  faithful,  persistent  industry.  The  intellect  and 
skill  of  the  race  should,  to  a  great  extent,  be  trained  to 
real  production,  either  from  manufactures  or  from  the 
bosom  of  the  soil.  The  prevalent  disposition  of  young 
men  to  be  merchants  and  manufacturers,  which  leads  some 
to  study  how  many  half-fed  women  can  be  employed,  or 
how  many  sets  of  profits  can  be  wrung  from  a  single 
bushel  of  wheat,  or  a  pair  of  boots,  before  it  gets  from 


ACQUISITIVENESS.  297 

the  producer  to  the  consumer,  is  a  system  of  prey  and 
plunder  condemned  alike  by  common  sense  and  conscience. 
One-half  of  the  nominal  value  of  the  property  of  the  world 
is  added  to  the  real  cost  of  production  in  the  shape  of 
profits.  Three-fourths  of  all  the  expenses  and  additions 
to  the  cost  of  goods,  in  the  shape  of  profits,  are  entirely 
unnecessary  to  the  trading  world.  The  nearer  the  pro- 
ducer and  the  consumer  can  be  brought  together  without 
the  intervention  of  a  platoon  of  men  who  aspire  for  the  lion's 
share  of  the  profit,  the  better  will  it  be  for  all  concerned, 
and,  of  course,  the  less  will  be  the  cost  to  the  consumer. 
There  is  no  point  in  the  education  of  the  young  where 
there  needs  to  be  more  reform  than  with  reference  to  the 
exercise  of  Acquisitiveness.  The  demoralizing  effects 
which  the  gratification  of  a  miserly  disposition  produces 
on  the  individual  man,  the  passion,  the  violence,  the  deso- 
lation, and  the  crime  which  grow  out  of  this  absorbing 
spirit  of  penuriousness,  this  grasping  avarice  on  the  part 
of  a  portion  of  the  community,  ought  to  arouse  the  moral 
sense  of  the  world  to  a  right  training  of  this  faculty ;  and 
this  training  should  be  done  in  harmony  with  the  higher 
powers  of  the  mind,  whose  office  it  is  to  exert  a  command- 
ing and  restraining  influence  over  the  passions  and  pro- 
pensities. 

Acquisitiveness  is  often  stimulated  by  perverted  Self- 
Esteem,  which  gives  a  love  of  power,  and  Acquisitiveness 
is  employed  to  acquire  the  means  of  securing  that  power. 
Perverted  Approbativeness,  also,  stimulates  it;  this  leads 
one  to  rejoice  in  parades  and  splendor,  and  money  is  useful 
to  carry  out  those  feelings.  Sometimes  morbid  Cautious- 
ness excites  Acquisitiveness  to  the  highest  degree  to  pro- 
vide the  means  for  future  safety  and  security.  The  mer- 
cenary spirit  exerted  around  us  tends  to  awaken  Cautious- 
ness and  Secretiveness  in  the  direction  of  money-making, 
and  when  Acquisitiveness  is  the  central  desire  and  the 

13* 


298  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

ruling  agent  in  this  warfare  of  man  upon  man,  the  scram- 
ble for  wealth  and  pecuniary  advancement  becomes  ridic- 
ulous, if  we  could  forget  the  criminality  and  the  misery 
which  are  necessarily  coupled  with  such  perversion.  In 
this  Age  of  Gold,  Acquisitiveness  occupies  so  conspicuous 
a  position,  has  so  much  to  do  with  stimulating  and  excit- 
ing both  normal  and  morbid  mental  action,  we  may  be 
pardoned  for  a  thorough  and  earnest  exposition  of  the 
subject. 

ACQUISITIVENESS  AND  SECRETIVENESS. 

We  find  it  inconvenient  to  speak  of  the  abuses  and  evil 
training  of  Acquisitiveness  until  we  have  called  attention 
to  its  nearest  neighbor  and  most  common  ally,  namely, 
Secretiveness.  The  very  name  of  Secretiveness  indicates 
the  general  nature  of  the  faculty,  yet  we  shall  speak  of 
its  true  office  as  well  as  its  perversion. 

The  design  of  this  faculty  is  to  produce  concealment 
and  a  restraining  influence  upon  the  other  faculties.  It  is 
one  of  the  animal  propensities,  and  in  its  action  has  merely 
selfish  gratification  in  view.  In  the  lower  animals  it  acts 
as  a  blind  instinct,  while  in  man  it  is  coupled  with  reason- 
ing power  and  moral  sentiment,  by  which  it  may  be  guided, 
modified,  and  restrained,  and  allowed  to  act  only  in  har- 
mony with  the  higher  dictates  of  the  mind.  Nearly  all 
carnivorous  animals  have  Secretiveness  in  a  high  degree 
of  power.  The  cat  species,  from  the  lion  downward, 
secretes  itself  and  patiently  waits  and  watches  the  approach 
of  prey,  and  when  near  enough  seizes  it  at  a  single  bound ; 
before  the  unconscious  victim  is  aware  of  the  presence  of 
a  concealed  enemy,  it  receives  a  death-blow  from  a  masked 
battery.  Most  of  the  herbivorous  animals  have  little 
Secretiveness,  since  their  food  does  not  flee  at  their 
approach.  Their  only  use  for  Secretiveness  would  be  to 


ACQUISITIVENESS  AND  SECKETIVENESS.    299 

conceal  themselves  from  enemies.  But  many  of  them  have 
fear  and  fleetness,  which  they  use  as  a  means  of  safety. 
Secretiveness  is  so  strong  in  many  of  the  human  race  that 
their  whole  character  is  tinged  with  a  fox-like  or  cat-like 
cunning.  All  they  do  and  say  has  an  air  of  mystery,  con- 
cealment, suspicion,  and  artifice  about  it.  They  use  am- 
biguous expressions,  and  never  speak  right  out  boldly, 
plainly,  definitely,  but  qualify  their  remarks  with  pruden- 
tial terms,  and  hedge  about  all  they  say  with  so  many  con- 
ditions that  they  sometimes  seem  to  be  either  cowards  or 
to  consider  themselves  as  holding  communion  with  rascals. 

There  are  others  who  have  the  organ  small.  These  are 
too  abrupt,  blunt,  and  ill-timed  in  their  remarks,  and 
"  carry  their  heart  on  their  sleeve  for  daws  to  peck  at." 
We  can  understand  a  bold,  outspoken  character  better 
than  a  sly  and  crafty  one,  but  neither  is  the  proper  stand- 
ard ;  the  medium  between  the  two  extremes  is  best. 
This  requires  a  full  development  of  Secretiveness  in  har- 
mony with  all  the  other  organs. 

It  is  important  to  train  this  faculty  when  it  is  weak,  and 
to  guide  and  restrain  it  when  it  is  too  strong.  Often  a 
plain  expression  of  truth  might  wound  the  feelings  of 
some  person  present,  or  might  develop  to  the  world  that 
which  should  be  kept  in  a  small  circle  of  friends.  Chil- 
dren should  be  taught  not  to  expose  unnecessarily  their 
weaknesses  or  their  ignorance,  and  also  never  so  far  to 
develop  their  character  that  dishonest  strangers  might 
take  advantage  of  it.  Deficient  Secretiveness  makes  a 
man  so  transparent  in  his  actions  and  words  as  to  be 
liable  every  hour  to  fall  a  victim  to  the  selfishness  of  those 
around  him;  while  an  excess  of  this  faculty  leads  him  to 
practice  duplicity,  cunning,  artifice,  dissimulation,  and 
perhaps  falsehood.  Some  persons  have  this  so  large,  in 
conjunction  with  rather  low  Conscientiousness,  that  their 
chief  pleasure  seems  to  consist  in  deceiving  and  mislead- 


300  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

ing,  not  to  hide  their  character  and  sentiments,  really,  but 
to  put  forth  language  and  actions  of  a  deceptive  nature, 
quite  foreign  to  their  general  character,  for  the  mere  pleas- 
ure of  the  good  cheer  and  amusement  it  may  afford. 
Thus,  though  honest  at  the  core,  they  appear,  for  the 
time  being,  hypocritical  and  deceitful. 

Writers  and  speakers  who  have  Secretiveness  large,  have 
a  tendency  to  shroud  in  mystery  not  only  what  is  at- 
tempted to  be  expressed,  but  to  make  the  hearer  believe 
that  much  of  importance  is  yet  to  come.  Novelists,  who 
usually  have  the  organ  large,  develop  and  perfect  a  plot 
on  one  page  only  to  lay  another,  or  to  raise  a  mystery  to 
be  afterward  developed.  Thus  they  go  on,  linking  mys- 
tery to  mystery,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  interest  and 
leading  the  reader  on ;  and  sometimes  such  writers  close 
their  book  in  a  labyrinth  of  undeveloped  history,  especially 
if  another  volume  is  to  follow. 

The  abuses  of  this  faculty  in  social  life  are  numerous. 
Many  parents  deceive  their  children  from  the  cradle.  It 
is  thought  by  many  mothers  and  nurses  that  a  straight- 
forward, truthful  course  with  a  child  is  not  good  policy, 
therefore  they  rule  them  by  deception ;  and  though  these 
children  will  master  one  deception  after  another,  they  still 
suppose  themselves  to  be  surrounded  by  hardly  anything 
but  deceit ;  certainly  they  do  not  know  wrhat  to  believe 
and  what  to  doubt.  They  soon  begin  to  deceive  their 
playmates,  next  their  parents  and  teachers,  and  finally, 
they  learn  to  lie  outright.  It  is .  generally  bad  policy  to 
trust  the  training  of  children  to  servants;  for  they  usually 
lack  the  patience,  the  wisdom,  and  the  self-restraint  to  take 
the  true  and  proper  course  with  a  child.  But  there  are 
many  mothers,  of  education  and  refinement,  whose  whole 
mental  texture  is  interwoven  with  Secretiveness  and  decep- 
tion. Such  women  teach  their  servants  practically  to  utter 
falsehoods,  by  requiring  them  to  say  that  "  the  mistress  is 


ACQUISITIVENESS  AND  SECRETIVENESS.     301 

not  at  home,"  unless  the  person  calling  happens  to  be  one 
of  the  favored  few.  It  would  be  indeed  strange  if  ser- 
vants thus  treated  did  not  learn  to  tell  falsehoods  on  their 
own  account,  and  if  children  are  left  in  their  care,  teach 
them  to  do  likewise.  Servants,  who  depend  upon  obedi- 
ence for  their  daily  bread,  are  required  to  practice  decep- 
tion as  a  part  of  their  duty,  and  it  would  be  a  marvel  if 
they  did  not  learn  to  deceive  and  lie  to  secrete  their  own 
faults  or  minister  to  their  own  interests.  Children,  as  well 
as  servants,  hear  mothers  lavish  the  most  endearing  ex- 
pressions of  regard  and  kindness  upon  persons  who  call, 
and  when  they  are  gone  learn  distinctly,  in  so  many  words, 
that  "  their  room  is  better  than  their  company."  At  first, 
the  unsophisticated  child  looks  with  astonishment  at  such 
bold  hypocrisy ;  it  is  bewildered  at  the  inconsistency ;  but 
it  soon  finds  out  that  it  is  living  in  a  sphere  of  duplicity, 
and  learns  to  practice  deception  accordingly  to  carry  out 
its  own  purposes. 

But  Secretiveness  is  perverted  not  only  for  the  sake  of 
gaining  social  advantages,  but  it  is  more  often  harnessed 
with  Acquisitiveness  and  made  to  work  deception  for  pur- 
poses of  gain.  The  merchant,  who  ought  to  be  a  man  of 
acknowledged  truth  and  integrity,  and  who  would  con- 
sider it  a  great  insult  if  his  character  were  called  in  ques- 
tion, is  led,  by  the  intrigues  and  deceptions  of  cunning 
sharpers,  to  bend  from  his  straightforward,  truthful  course 
to  conform  to  an  erroneous  public  sentiment  created  by 
the  tricksters  of  trade.  We  believe  that,  even  in  a 
"crooked  and  perverse  generation,"  if  a  man  or  a  firm 
would  stand  up  squarely  upon  the  line  of  truth  and  integ- 
rity,  and  let  it  be  widely  known,  as  it  soon  would  be,  that 
falsehood,  deception,  and  cheating  would  on  no  account  be 
practiced,  that  man  or  firm,  as  a  consequence,  would 
thereby  attract  business  and  make  a  fortune.  But  plotting 
and  counter-plotting  have  become  so  general,  that  mer- 


302  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

cantile  life  is  a  network  of  deception,  and  nearly  every 
article  of  goods  on  the  shelves  is  made  to  speak  falsehood 
by  the  yard.  It  is  frequently  demanded  of  clerks  to 
practice  deception  and  falsify  with  a  brazen  face,  or  lose 
their  places.  Clerks  thus  trained  generally  double  back 
upon  their  masters,  and  cheat  on  their  own  account ;  and 
then  what  horror  and  consternation  rages  through  the 
mercantile  community !  It  is  simply  this :  that  the  mer- 
chant trained  the  young  man  to  be  dishonest  for  the  inter- 
est of  the  employer,  and  he  turned  and  practiced  his 
acquired  dishonesty  upon  his  preceptor.  If  he  had 
cheated  somebody  else,  a  customer,  it  would  have  been 
considered  smart  and  praiseworthy. 

But  merchants  are  not  the  only  ones  who  abuse  Acquis- 
itiveness and  Secretiveness  in  conjunction.  Manufac- 
turers use  cotton  warp  in  the  room  of  silk  or  linen ;  plated 
ware  is  sometimes  sold  for  solid,  and  nearly,  if  not  more 
than  one-half  the  manufactured  goods  that  are  offered  for 
sale  are  embodied  falsehoods — polished  on  the  surface,  but 
shabby  within.  Take  a  simple  but  familiar  example.  A 
manufacturer  of  flannels  substituted  cotton  warp  for 
woolen,  stored  his  goods  until  he  had  a  large  amount  on 
hand,  and  then  rushed  them  into  the  exhausted  market. 
The  deception  was  not  apparent.  It  is  a  part  of  the  office 
of  Secretiveness  not  to  have  the  deed  show.  Before  the 
cheat  was  known  to  the  consumer,  the  manufacturer  had 
realized  half  of  a  splendid  fortune  by  the  operation.  The 
warp,  which  in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  is  the 
most  costly  and  difficult  to  make,  being  substituted  by 
cotton,  the  fabric  looked  even  more  beautiful  than  if  it  had 
been  honestly  made,  though  it  cost  very  considerably  less. 
The  consumer  soon  became  aware  that  it  was  half  cotton, 
but  not  till  it  was  half  worn  or  he  had  attempted  to  color 
the  cloth,  when  the  cotton  warp,  not  taking  color  in  a 
woolen  dye,  exposed  the  cheat.  From  the  time  the  cotton 


ACQUISITIVENESS  AND  SECKETIYENESS.     303 

warp  was  detected,  everything  in  the  shape  of  white  flan- 
nel was  carefully  criticised.  The  shrewd  manufacturer, 
however,  had  anticipated  all  this,  and  made  a  large  quan- 
tity of  goods,  not  with  cotton  warp  and  woolen  filling,  but 
by  mixing  in  equal  parts  the  cotton  and  the  wool  by  card- 
ing them  together,  so  that  through  the  entire  fabric,  both 
warp  and  filling,  the  cotton  was  covertly  intermixed  with 
the  wool.  Thus  each  thread,  if  it  were  broken  and  held 
up  to  the  light  or  scorched,  would  indicate  the  presence 
of  wool.  But  suppose  the  cloth  were  colored  red,  the  cot- 
ton fibers,  not  taking  color,  would  give  a  gray  appearance 
to  the  goods.  This  cheat  was,  -however,  soon  detected, 
but  not  until  the  other  half  of  the  splendid  fortune  had 
been  realized  by  this  new  deception,  and  the  manufacturer 
had  retired  from  business  with  his  cool  half  million  and 
lived  in  splendid  style.  Now,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  this  excess  of  profit  on  the  sale  of  deceptive  goods 
for  the  full  price  was  sheer  robbery,  and  that  those  who 
purchased  them  had  been  taxed  without  an  equivalent. 
Such  men  may  gather  fortunes  to  endow  colleges  or  build 
churches,  but  the  All-Knowing  will  hold  them  to  an  ac- 
count. All  their  wealth  is  an  incarnate  falsehood;  and 
though  their  ill-gotten  gains  may  bless  orphan  asylums, 
we  would  not  willingly  take  their  share  of  the  profit  with 
its  responsibility.  Men  make  themselves  merry  over 
wooden  nutmegs,  horn  gunflints,  wooden  hams,  and  white- 
oak  cheese,  each  of  which  may  have  been,  in  single 
instances,  constructed  and  sold  as  a  mere  playful  decep- 
tion, for  the  sport  of  the  thing ;  but  deceptions,  as  gross 
as  would  be  wooden  nutmegs,  are  found  in  every  avenue 
of  trade ;  and  if  every  falsehood  incorporated  into  manu- 
factured goods  could  step  forth  from  the  articles  in  which 
they  are  embodied,  the  contents  of  most  stores  would  be 
as  completely  disorganized  as  if  the  warp  were  to  forsake 
the  filling  in  every  yard  of  cloth, 


304  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

This  system  of  duplicity,  this  perverted  Secretiveness, 
exercised  for  the  gratification  of  Acquisitiveness,  is  not 
confined  to  trades  and  manufactures,  to  peddlers  and  mock 
auctioneers,  but  it  extends  to  farmers,  who  are  supposed 
to  be  removed  from  temptation,  and  who  are,  perhaps,  by 
circumstances,  the  most  upright  portion  of  the  community. 
The  craving  desire  to  gratify  the  love  of  money  leads  the 
farmer  who  has  Secretiveness  large  to  call  it  to  his  aid,  to 
enable  him  the  more  successfully  and  rapidly  to  acquire  a 
fortune.  Who  dare  buy  a  horse  or  any  other  animal  from 
farmers  without  a  sharp  investigation?  Who  does  not 
wish  to  put  the  trier  into  a  tub  of  butter  to  see  if  it  is  all 
alike  from  top  to  bottom  ?  who  would  not  be  disappointed 
to  find  that  turkeys  and  chickens  had  not  been  fed  to  re- 
pletion immediately  before  being  killed,  so  as  to  sell  corn 
which  is  worth  a  cent  a  pound,  for  twenty  cents  a  pound ; 
and  though  the  amount  of  gain  be  small,  in  a  given  case, 
the  principle  is  incorporated  into  the  transaction.  Indeed, 
Secretiveness  finds  opportunities  to  work  deception  in 
every  department  of  life;  each  profession  has  its  sharp 
practice,  its  quiet  concealments,  its  smooth  outside,  and  its 
shortcomings  within ;  but  some  lines  of  business  seem  to 
furnish  more  opportunities  for  deception  than  others,  and 
consequently  stronger  temptations  to  deceit.  A  pursuit 
which  fosters  the  use  of  Secretiveness,  and  can  not  well 
tolerate  frankness,  accumulates  in  its  range  all  the  sly, 
sharp,  cunning  persons,  while  the  frank  and  truthful  are 
generally  pushed  out  of  it  before  they  have  entered  upon 
manhood,  and  it  is  said  of  them,  "  they  did  not  succeed." 
This  classifying  the  tricky  persons  into  pursuits  which 
furnish  opportunity  for  deception,  and  pushing  the  candid 
and  the  honest  to  adopt  trades  or  professions  in  which  they 
can  use  candor  without  bankruptcy,  can  be  distinctly  seen 
in  its  effects  upon  different  branches  of  trade;  and  we 
think  that  we  could  almost  classify  successful  business  men 


MECHANICAL  TALENT  AND  SKILL.        305 

if  they  were  put  into  a  crowd,  and  place  in  their  respective 
groups  those  that  succeed  by  policy  and  those  who  can 
succeed  by  straightforward  plainness. 

We  ought  not  to  close  this  topic  without  stating  that 
secretive,  tricky  customers  teach  merchants  and  clerks 
deception  as  a  means  of  self-defense;  for  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  leaning  over  a  dry-goods  counter  could  not  tell 
more  positive  falsehoods  than  are  uttered  by  the  smiling 
lips  of  respectable  men  and  women  of  our  day ;  and  this 
method  of  cheapening  was  practiced  in  Old  Testament 
times,  as  well  as  in  modern  days,  for  we  there  read,  "  It  is 
naught,  it  is  naught,  saith  the  buyer;  but  when  he  has 
gone  his  way,  then  he  boasteth." 

MECHANICAL    TALENT    AND    SKILL. 

CONSTRUCTIVENESS  lays  the  foundation  for  mechanical 
taste  and  skill,  and  from  its  exercise  nearly  everything 
which  adorns  and  bles'ses  life  proceeds.  If  we  look  abroad 
we  see  hardly  anything  that  the  hand  of  artistical  and 
mechanical  skill  has  not  produced.  Man  has  been  called 
a  tool-using  animal. 

Physically  considered,  independently  of  intelligence  or 
tools,  man  is  far  inferior  to  some  of  the  lower  animals. 
Let  man  stand  up  in  the  forest  naked,  and  if  compared 
with  a  bear,  to  all  outward  seeming  the  bear  has  almost 
every  advantage.  He  has  a  coat  which  keeps  him  warm 
in  winter,  never  becomes  unfashionable,  wears  out,  or  needs 
repairing.  His  teeth  are  strong  for  defense  and  for  pro- 
viding himself  with  game  as  food.  His  claws  are  long, 
strong,  and  sharp,  with  which  he  may  dig  roots,  or  climb 
trees,  or  hold  his  prey.  Man  has  neither  claws  nor  strong 
teeth,  nor  has  he  a  garment  of  fur  to  protect  him  from 
storms  and  the  cold  of  winter,  but  in  process  of  time  his 
intellect  and  constructive  talent  have  projected  those  de- 


306  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

fenseless  fingers  of  his  into  a  thousand  productions.  He 
contrives  weapons  of  defense  and  offense  which  make  the 
bear  his  prey,  and  convert  his  warm  robe  into  a  coat  for 
the  captor.  To  protect  himself  from  the  storms  of  win- 
ter he  builds  houses ;  he  works  metals  into  all  sorts  of 
tools,  and  uses  those  tools  for  every  imaginable  purpose, 
and  in  process  of  time,  though  the  bear  has  remained  sta- 
tionary, man  has  made  great  progress,  and  populous  cities, 
commerce,  art,  have  sprung  from  his  plastic  hand,  and  all 
the  appliances  of  civilization  occupy  the  place  where  the 
bear  once  roamed  the  master,  and  he  retreats  to  the  forests 
and  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  and  timidly  flees  at  the 
approach  of  man,  who,  at  the  beginning,  seemed  so  in- 
ferior. 

Without  Constructiveness,  no  man  could  live  where 
winter  reigns  three  or  more  months  in  the  year ;  and  we 
find  in  the  hot  climates,  where  houses  and  clothing  are 
comparatively  unnecessary,  the  faculty  of  Constructive- 
ness  is  not  much  developed.  Without  the  use  of  tools 
man  would  indeed  be  helpless.  He  might,  like  the  squir- 
rel, lay  up  nuts  for  the  winter,  but  how  could  he  con- 
struct a  shelter  or  clothing  with  his  naked  hands  ?  The 
squirrel  has  the  means  with  which  to  dig  and  burrow,  or 
to  gnaw  his  passage  into  a  hollow  tree,  but  without  the 
agency  of  tools  man  could  accomplish  neither  of  these 
results. 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  animals,  the  horse,  has  been 
known  to  starve  in  midsummer,  being  tied  to  a  tree  with 
a  common  rope.  He  had  gnawing  ability,  for  he  gnawed 
the  bark  from  the  tree  to  which  he  was  tied,  from  the 
roots  as  high  as  he  could  reach.  He  might  have  ob- 
tained his  freedom  in  five  minutes  had  he  possessed  the 
intelligence  to  gnaw  off  his  rope.  The  wisest  of  the  lower 
animals  use  no  tools  except  in  one  or  two  instances,  of 
apes,  which  merely  use  a  club  to  defend  themselves; 


MECHANICAL  TALENT  AND  SKILL.         307 

some  of  them  let  fall  a  stone  upon  nuts  to  crack  them 
when  too  hard  for  their  jaws.  Thus  we  see  that  with  these 
exceptions,  animals  are  not  tool-using  in  their  nature.  The 
bee,  the  beaver,  and  bird  build  in  a  specific  way  in  obedi- 
ence to  fixed  instincts,  but  they  use  no  tools,  and  the  order 
of  their  mechanism  is  generally  low  and  simple.  And 
although  the  bird  builds  a  nest,  the  bee  its  cells,  and  the 
beaver  its  dam,  thus  evincing  the  building  instinct,  man  is 
the  only  being  that  possesses  the  manufacturing  talent  be- 
yond these  mere  instinctive  efforts.  He  combines  intellect 
with  Constructiveness,  and  thus  by  invention  carries  out 
new  plans  for  the  production  of  whatever  he  desires.  The 
printing-press  and  the  art  it  subserves,  the  power-loom 
which  seems  almost  possessed  of  intelligence,  the  ship, 
the  steam-engine,  and  the  machinery  it  impels,  and  all  the 
articles  of  convenience,  utility,  and  ornament  which  fill 
and  bless  the  civilized  world,  grow  out  of  this  great  but 
often  much  neglected  element  of  our  nature. 

Though  man  was  created  without  any  natural  weapons 
of  defense,  and  in  physical  structure  is  weaker  for  self- 
protection  than  many  of  the  inferior  animals  which  are 
even  smaller  than  himself,  yet  by  the  force  of  his  in- 
tellect and  the  power  of  his  constructive  talent  he  designs 
and  executes  implements  with  which  he  rules  all  animals. 
He  curbs  the  fiery  force  of  the  horse,  entraps  and  sub- 
jugates the  half-reasoning  elephant,  conquers  the  levia- 
than of  the  deep,  and  brings  the  proud  eagle  from  his 
soaring  height.  He  subdues  the  roaring  lion,  he  braves 
the  very  ocean  and  rides  its  waves  in  safety.  He  calls 
the  lightning  from  the  heavens,  and  it  is  obedient  to  his 
will.  He  devises  means  to  make  a  pathway  for  the  iron 
horse,  sends  his  messages  under  the  sea  and  around  the 
earth,  and  fills  the  world  with  machinery  by  which  the 
most  delicate  fabrics  are  elaborated  with  as  much  skill  as 
if  moved  by  the  power  of  reason,  evincing,  indeed,  that  he 


308  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

who  has  the  skill  and  wisdom  to  make  and  operate  them 
is  created  in  the  image  of  God. 

If  we  were  to  go  out  of  the  path  of  constructive  and 
mechanical  skill  we  must  go  into  the  wilderness  where 
nature,  rude  and  luxuriant,  untrimmed  and  untrained, 
acknowledges  not  the  hand  of  culture ;  but  where  civili- 
zation reigns,  we  can  hardly  see  an  object  which  mechani- 
cal skill  has  not  wholly  or  in  part  developed.  Mechanism 
now  does  nearly  all  of  the  work  of  agriculture  as  well  as 
of  manufactures  and  art. 

A  faculty  so  useful  as  this,  so  indispensable  to  the  wel- 
fare, happiness,  and  development  of  the  human  race,  should 
be  carefully  and  perseveringly  cultivated.  We  trust  the 
time  will  come  when  all  persons  who  are  not  devoted  to 
agriculture  or  manufactures  shall  have  so  much  training  in 
some  mechanical  pursuit  as  will  enable  them  to  earn  a 
good  support.  Attached  to  every  college,  instead  of  the 
gymnasium,  or  in  addition  to  it,  there  might  be  shops  in 
which  useful  industry  could  be  employed,  and  while  the 
student  would  be  taking  exercise  with  the  saw,  the  plane, 
and  the  hammer  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  he  might 
learn  to  build  wagons,  make  chairs,  cabinet  furniture,  and 
a  hundred  other  useful  things;  then,  if  in  following  a 
talking  profession,  he  were  to  lose  his  voice,  he  would  not 
necessarily  be  a  pauper.  We  have  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  any  well-developed  boy  might  obtain  a  good  book 
education,  and  with  proper  opportunities  learn  some  use- 
ful trade  at  the  same  time. 

We  would  not  make  old  men  of  children,  or  cart-horses 
of  colts ;  but  does  not  the  boy,  when  making  his  kite  or 
water-wheel,  or  the  mud-dam  as  a  means  of  propelling  it, 
feel  all  the  buoyancy  of  childhood  as  much  as  when  he 
is  idly  chasing  his  hoop  ?  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  boy 
kept  turning  a  grindstone  by  the  hour  would  become 
moody,  discontented,  and  unhappy;  but  let  him  be  con- 


MECHANICAL  TALENT  AND  SKILL.         309 

structing  something  as  a  source  of  pleasure  and  profit  to 
himself,  will  he  not  work  with  a  will,  and  dislike  to  break 
off  from  it  even  to  go  to  his  dinner  ?  Instead  of  abating 
his  love  for  book-learning,  we  think  such  exercise  would 
give  him  a  taste  for  study,  besides  filling  up  his  odd  hours 
and  serving  all  the  necessities  of  an  excellent  system  of 
physical  education.  Besides,  it  is  mechanical  work,  and 
while  it  calls  into  requisition  his  muscles  quite  as  much  as 
useless  play  does,  it  awakens  his  ingenuity  at  the  same 
time,  and  his  mechanical  talent  is  thereby  stimulated  and 
instructed.  Let  mechanical  operations  be  made  delight- 
ful to  a  boy,  and  his  mental  elasticity  will  be  in  no  sense 
abated,  while  he  gets  the  vigor  incident  to  labor  which  the 
growing  organism  so  much  needs.  He  would  acquire 
handiness  also  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  a  planning  and  ex- 
ecutive talent  that  would  be  of  essential  importance  to 
him  through  every  avenue  of  future  life. 

We  think,  also,  that  the  little  girl  enjoys  life  as  well 
when  using  her  scissors  and  needle  in  the  construction  of 
dolls'  clothes  as  in  thoughtlessly  and  uselessly  cutting  up 
paper  and  cloth  without  any  design.  We  have  observed 
that  children  and  youth  are  intensely  interested  when 
taken  to  workshops  and  the  theories  and  operations  there- 
in are  explained  and  exhibited  to  them.  Every  person 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  ignorance  respecting  how  books, 
clothing,  furniture,  houses,  and  tools  are  made.  Many 
persons  are  not  ashamed  to  be  idiotic  in  constructive  tal- 
ent who  would  blush  if  suspected  of  a  defectiveness  in 
any  other  talent. 

Among  the  most  useful  of  the  human  race  the  inventor 
and  mechanic  deservedly  take  rank  for  excellence  in  their 
vocation.  The  names  of  Watt,  Smeaton,  Franklin,  Fulton, 
Whitney,  Arkwright,  Slater,  Hoe,  Blanchard,  Roebling, 
Ericsson,  Morse,  McCormack,  and  Howe  will  be  repeated 
with  honor  at  every  revolution  of  the  steam-engine,  at 


310  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

every  gleam  from  Eddystone  lighthouse,  by  every  flash  of 
electricity  sent  harmlessly  to  the  earth,  by  every  foaming 
furrow  of  the  steamboat,  by  the  roar  of  the  cotton-gin,  by 
the  hum  of  every  spindle,  by  the  clatter  of  every  power- 
loom,  by  the  achievements  of  the  mammoth  printing-press, 
by  the  machinery  for  turning  irregular  forms,  by  every 
suspension-bridge  where  others  are  impossible,  by  the 
complete  revolution  in  naval  architecture  effected  by  the 
little  Monitor,  by  every  electric  pulsation  that  sends  the 
glowing  thought  around  the  world  and  makes  all  men 
akin,  by  the  teeming  harvests  that  bow  before  the  magic 
reaper,  or  by  the  glittering  steel  fingers  which,  without 
fatigue,  do  the  sewing  of  a  hundred  pair  of  hands.  Their 
fame  is  written  in  these  great  benefactions  to  mankind, 
and  not  their  descendants  merely,  nor  even  their  country- 
men, but  the  whole  human  race  proudly  claim  affinity  with 
them,  a  common  brotherhood. 

Suppose  man  were  deprived  of  all  mechanical  talent, 
how  could  he  adapt  himself  to  the  appliances  of  art,  com- 
merce, and  manufactures  of  every-day  life,  to  say  nothing 
of  producing  these  things?  All  persons  would  find  it 
greatly  to  their  advantage  to  have  a  well-trained  mechan- 
ical judgment,  that  they  may  be  able  to  comprehend  and 
criticise  the  structure,  quality,  and  consequent  value  of  the 
goods  they  need  to  buy  and  use,  otherwise  they  are  liable 
to  be  cheated  on  every  hand.  Those,  also,  who  desire  to 
trade  in  manufactured  goods  should  have  similar  early 
training  to  qualify  them  for  the  pursuit. 

u  But,"  says  one,  "  I  am  to  be  a  merchant,  therefore 
what  do  I  want  to  know  of  mechanism  ?  why  should  I 
cultivate  my  Constructiveness  ?  "  To  such  a  one  we  may 
reply,  What  do  you  intend  to  deal  in  ?  If  in  pork  and 
lard,  salt,  grain,  plaster,  or  lime,  you  could  get  along  very 
well  with  small  and  untrained  Constructiveness ;  but  if  you 
wish  to  deal  in  manufactured  goods,  in  anything  that 


MECHANICAL  TALENT  AND  SKILL.        311 

involves  the  principles  of  mechanics,  you  will  find 
your  success  greatly  augmented  by  large,  active,  and 
well-instructed  Constructiveness.  Take,  for  example,  the 
hardware  trade.  Everything  in  that  line  is  manufactured, 
combining  mechanical  operations  in  its  structure  and  use. 
The  very  simplest  article  in  that  line  of  trade,  a  cut  nail, 
to  be  made  properly,  must  be  a  wedge,  equal  in  thickness 
from  end  to  end  one  way,  and  a  double  inclined  plane  the 
other  way.  If  it  have  not  this  form  it  is  useless.  Let 
two  young  men  engage  in  the  hardware  trade  side  by  side 
with  equal  capital  and  equal  intellectual  business  talent 
and  energy,  but  with  this  simple  difference,  that  one  has 
large  and  the  other  small  Constructiveness — one  of  these 
men  will  become  rich  and  the  other  will  fail ;  and  why  ? 
The  one  having  large  Constructiveness  understands  the 
working  qualities  of  every  tool,  machine,  and  apparatus  in 
his  shop,  from  a  turning-lathe  to  a  mouse-trap,  and  can  ex- 
plain these  qualities  to  a  customer  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
display  them  to  advantage.  If  a  new  lock,  wrench,  win- 
dow-spring, door-knob,  or  other  patented  curiosity  be 
offered  for  him  to  purchase,  he  sees  at  a  glance  whether  it 
will  supersede  all  others  or  fail  and  be  worthless,  and  he 
buys  or  rejects  accordingly.  The  other  man,  his  neighbor, 
having  small  Constructiveness,  will  show  his  goods  and 
call  them  strong  and  handsome,  but  will  never  display 
and  explain  to  his  customers  their  internal  workings  or 
exhibit  their  new  and  superior  qualities  over  all  other 
methods,  simply  because  he  does  not  appreciate  them  him- 
self. If  the  most  desirable  improvements  are  offered  to 
him,  he  dare  not  purchase  on  his  own  judgment ;  or  if  he 
buys  a  little  of  everything,  he  is  sure  to  lose  money  on  use- 
less articles  that  will  lie  rusting  on  his  shelves. 

A  man  to  sell  carpets  well,  ought  to  have  mechanical 
talent  enough  to  instruct  any  one  in  the  general  principles 
and  the  real  mechanical  differences  in  different  articles.  If 


312  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

it  were  possible,  he  should  understand  carpet-making.  A 
bred  tailor  or  shoemaker  will  be  a  better  salesman  of  coats 
or  boots,  other  things  being  equal,  than  he  who  has  merely 
been  trained  to  buy  and  sell. 

It  was  once  said  by  an  eminent  lawyer  to  his  students, 
that  to  be  an  accomplished  lawyer  a  man  ought  to  know 
something  of  everything,  enough  even  of  the  mechanism 
of  the  watch  to  explain  the  technical  terms  and  uses  of 
each  part ;  because  important  law  cases  sometimes  hinge 
on  such  particular  knowledge  of  practical  matters  that  the 
lawyer  who  does  not  understand  them  will  utterly  fail 
in  the  presence  of  an  antagonist  who  is  well  versed  in 
them. 

We  have  heard  Daniel  Webster,  in  the  United  States 
Court,  make  remarks  relative  to  a  patented  article,  that 
being  the  subject  of  the  trial,  for  which  a  boy  fifteen  years 
old,  in  a  mechanical  neighborhood,  would  be  laughed  at. 
We  remember  hearing  the  late  Ogden  Hoffman  manage 
a  case  in  a  court  in  New  York,  involving  facts  that 
occurred  on  shipboard,  and  we  observed,  with  pleasure, 
that  he  could  ask  questions  of  sailors  in  their  own  language, 
and  understand  the  sailors'  replies.  That  lawyer  had  the 
respect  of  the  sailors  and  the  jurymen  who  knew  about 
maritime  matters,  hence  he  was  usually  employed  in  such 
cases,  if  he  could  be  obtained.  Why  ?  He  had  spent  two 
years  at  sea,  and  those  two  years  were  of  more  value  to 
him  than  any  other  two  years  of  his  entire  educational 
course,  in  making  him  qualified  to  take  the  lead  in  cases 
pertaining  to  maritime  affairs.  Let  the  faculty  of  Construc- 
tiveness  be  cultivated  largely ;  it  will  be  of  use  in  a  thou- 
sand ways. 


IDEALITY.  313 


IDEALITY. 

This  faculty  is  adapted  to  beauty,  perfection,  and  refine- 
ment. Nature  is  full  of  beauty,  from  the  modest  flower 
that  bends  its  tiny  head  over  the  sparkling  rill  on  the 
sunny  hillside,  to  the  gorgeous  sunset  or  the  star-gemmed 
canopy  -of  heaven.  The  mind  of  man,  to  be  in  apprecia- 
tive harmony  with  the  resplendent  touches  of  creative 
taste  thus  lavishly  affiliated  with  the  wide  domain  of  earth 
and  air  and  sky,  should  possess  a  faculty  bearing  the  same 
relation  to  beauty  that  the  eye  does  to  light. 

It  is  a  pleasing  fact  that  "  the  image  of  his  Maker "  is 
endowed  with  powers  of  mind  most  admirably  adapted  to 
feel  the  spirit  and  drink  in  the  soul  of  every  element  em- 
bodied in  the  Creator's  work ;  and  not  the  least  import- 
ant one  is  Ideality.  Do  the  crashing  thunderbolts  rave 
through  the  heavens,  or  does  a  bald,  huge  mountain  lift 
its  craggy  crest  to  the  sky,  or  the  angry  ocean  lash  its 
rocky  base,  Sublimity  rejoices  in  the  warring  elements,  and 
glories  in  all  the  grandeur  of  the  universe.  Does  music, 
soft  and  sweet,  whisper  in  the  breeze,  or  come  in  bewilder- 
ing richness  from  the  songsters  of  the  grove,  Tune  drinks 
in  with  delight  the  inspiring  strains,  and  seeks  to  reproduce 
them.  Does  danger  stalk  abroad,  Cautiousness  warns  us 
of  its  approach,  while  Combativeness  arms  us  for  defense, 
and  urges  us  to  overcome.  In  short,  man,  by  means  of 
his  mental  constitution,  has  a  wise  and  beautiful  adapta- 
tion to  all  forms  and  conditions  of  matter — to  all  the  nice 
mechanism  of  universal  nature,  physical,  intellectual,  and 
moral. 

As  a  counterpart  to  the  plenitude  of  exquisite  beauty 
and  elegance  which  bestud  the  earth  and  sky — 

41  That  warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze, 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees," 

14 


314  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

the  faculty  of  Ideality  is  given  to  man,  by  which  he  appre- 
ciates them ;  and  not  only  these  physical  adornments  furnish 
it  food,  but  all  the  poetry  of  thought  and  expression  that 
charms  the  world,  and  all  the  polish  and  elegance  of  man- 
ners which  constitute  the  grace  of  good  breeding,  arise 
from  and  are  addressed  to  this  faculty.  Moreover,  Ide- 
ality, acting  with  Spirituality,  is  an  element  of  imagina- 
tion, and  in  conjunction  with  Construct! veness  gives  cre- 
ative fancy  and  invention,  especially  to  the  speaker,  the 
author,  the  mechanic,  and  the  artist. 

If  we  look  into  the  range  of  manufactured  goods,  we 
will  find  that  more  than  one-half  of  all  articles  intended 
to  serve  purposes  of  utility  have  qualities  of  beauty  and 
decoration,  so  that  although  strength,  durability,  and 
convenience  are  prominently  seen,  and  stand  forth  as  if  the 
purchaser  were  to  see  and  admire  these  qualities  alone,  yet 
polish,  neatness,  gracefulness,  and  elegance  of  form  and 
of  finish  are  superadded  to  strength,  to  please  the  eye  and 
gratify  the  sense  of  beauty,  just  as  politeness  of  manner 
in  human  character  adorns  the  sterner  virtues  of  good 
sense  and  integrity.  Surrounded,  then,  as  we  are,  by  all 
the  gorgeous  garniture  of  nature,  and  by  so  many  oppor- 
tunities for  artistic  decoration,  how  important  does  the 
cultivation  of  Ideality  become,  that  we  may  properly  en- 
joy the  beauties  of  nature  and  the  elegant  adornments 
of  art ! 

This  faculty  is  generally  stronger  in  women  than  in 
inen,  as  also  the  organ  of  Color ;  hence  women  are  more 
fond  of,  and  better  judges  of  articles  of  taste  and  beauty 
than  men.  Certain  nations  have  this  element  more  highly 
developed  than  others.  The  French  and  Italians  surpass 
the  rest  of  the  world  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  of 
taste  and  elegance,  and  in  the  arts  of  design.  Greece 
developed  a  high  order  of  taste  in  sculpture  and  architec- 
ture ;  and  Rome  contented  herself  in  the  main  with  utili- 


IDEALITY.  315 

tarian  strength.  England  and  America  elaborate  wood 
and  iron  into  all  forms  of  strength  and  utility.  France 
and  Italy  labor  mainly  to  minister  to  taste  and  ornament. 
These  two  qualities,  we  think,  should  be  combined.  There 
should,  indeed,  be  strength  and  utility ;  but  is  not  a  grace- 
ful beauty  of  form  and  elegance  of  finish  in  harmony  with 
power  and  endurance?  Is  not  beauty  of  form  in  the 
draft-horse  possible  and  desirable  ?  Because  he  is  strong, 
must  he  of  necessity  be  rough,  ill-shapen,  and  ugly  ?  Do 
not  our  beautiful  ships, 

"  that  walk  the  water  like  a  thing  of  life," 

possess  strength  and  stowage  as  well  as  beauty  and  speed  ? 
We  do  not  believe  that  a  bass-viol  must  be  made  in  the 
shape  of  a  Bible  to  make  it  fit  to  discourse  sacred  music, 
or  that  a  locomotive  should  look  like  the  work  of  a  thun- 
derbolt, merely  because  strength  is  the  main  thing  re- 
quired of  it.  Let  it,  and  ships,  and  carriages,  even  log- 
wagons,  and  the  plow  that  grovels  in  the  soil,  and  every- 
thing, down  to  the  scrubbing-brush,  be  made  in  good  taste, 
even  beautiful  in  form  and  finish,  and  the  refining  and 
elevating  tendency,  by  the  development  of  Ideality,  in  the 
users  of  these  tilings  will  tell  favorably  upon  the  world. 
God  does  not  make  beauty  without  a  sufficient  foundation 
to  rest  it  on.  He  gives  a  stalk  and  root  for  the  most 
beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers.  So  would  we  seek  strength 
and  durability,  and  overlay  or  adorn  it  with  decorative 
beauty.  We  are  aware  that  the  voluptuous  Italian  and 
the  fanciful  French  man  have  less  stalwart  strength  of 
character  than  the  Anglo-Saxon ;  and  while  they  cultivate 
that  which  ministers  to  taste  and  luxury  at  the  expense, 
oftentimes,  of  the  more  solid  works,  yet  we  are  unwilling 
to  attribute  their  effeminacy  to  the  cultivation  of  Ideality. 
Other  causes,  which  it  becomes  us  not  here  to  discuss, 
have  given  caste  to  their  national  and  social  positions.  If 


316  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

they  lack  utilitarian  qualities,  and  their  characters  are 
therefore  objectionable,  would  we  decry  their  taste  and 
rob  them  of  those  decorative  qualities  which  have  filled 
the  world  with  works  of  beauty,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
preserved  elegance  and  the  arts  amid  the  storms  of  war 
and  the  rude  conditions  of  colonial  and  emigrative  life  ? 
The  rude  log  cabin  combines  warmth,  shelter,  security, 
and  strength,  and  serves  all  the  purposes  of  abstract  ne- 
cessity and  utility ;  but  the  delicate  vase  from  France,  to 
be  a  receptacle  of  the  wild  flowers  of  the  prairie  in  that 
same  cabin,  or  the  elegant  fan  that  cools  the  sun-burnt 
brow  of  rustic  beauty,  or  the  china  tea-set,  and  other  arti- 
cles of  taste,  carry  into  the  wilderness  the  seeds  of  civili- 
zation that  ultimately  grow  into  elegant  mansions,  rich 
furniture,  and  neat  and  ornamental  dress,  with  taste  and 
personal  manners  to  match.  We  know  that  the  gray  goose 
has  been  praised,  and  the  beautiful  peacock  and  butterfly 
decried ;  but  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  the  plenitude  of 
beauty  in  bird  and  flower,  and  shell  and  sky,  was  adjusted 
for  purposes  as  wise  and  beneficent  as  were  those  objects 
and  qualities  which  serve  merely  economical  ends. 

Large  Ideality  gives  a  thrill  of  delight  to  the  child,  or 
the  man  of  gray  hairs,  at  the  sight  of  nature's  gems  of 
beauty ;  it  warms  the  imagination  of  the  rustic  plowman 
to  breathe  immortal  song,  which  is  to  gladden  and  cheer 
the  human  soul  in  every  clime  and  age.  Dress  a  child  in 
gober  gray,  answering  merely  the  purposes  of  decency 
and  warmth,  and  it  will  be  difficult  to  induce  it  to  be 
cleanly,  and  to  value  the  clothing  sufficiently  to  take  care 
of  and  preserve  it ;  but  let  it  be  "  my  pretty  dress,"  of 
beautiful  color  and  elegant  pattern,  and  it  will  be  kept 
with  fastidious  care  untorn  and  unsoiled.  Fill  a  house 
with  rough  benches  and  rude  utensils,  and  they  are 
jammed  and  kicked  and  battered  like  the  benches  of  a 
school-house ;  but  make  these  articles  of  elegant  patterns 


FIRMNESS.  317 

and  ornamental  wood,  and  with  what  care  they  are  treas- 
ured, as  heirlooms,  for  a  century !  What  is  true  of  furni- 
ture and  clothing  is  also  true  of  architecture,  books,  and 
in  fact  everything,  as  the  rough  usage  of  rough  school- 
houses  fully  proves.  On  the  contrary,  let  a  school-house 
be  built  with  "  cornice,  frieze,  and  architrave,"  according 
to  a  tasty  architecture,  with  inside  work  of  molding  and 
column,  all  nicely  painted,  grained,  and  properly  finished, 
and  what  mischievous  pocket-knife,  even  in  Yankee  land, 
ever  dares,  or  deems  it  other  than  sacrilege  to  make  its 
onslaughts.  There  it  will  stand,  even  a  school-house,  for 
years,  without  a  hack  or  unnecessary  mark. 

Besides,  these  articles  serve  to  refine  and  elevate  the 
mind.  Coarse  thoughts  are  apt  to  dwell  with  coarse  ex- 
ternal objects,  while  beauty  begets  a  polished  imagination 
and  correct  taste,  which  flow  out  in  politeness  of  language 
and  manner.  We  therefore  urge  the  cultivation  of  Ideal- 
ity upon  all  who  have  the  charge  of  the  education  of  the 
young.  Let  every  flower  make  its  impress  on  their  minds, 
and  every  form  of  beauty  in  nature  and  art  exert  its  refin- 
ing influence  upon  their  characters.  Teach  them  not  only 
refinement  of  mental  action,  but  an  elegant  and  polished 
mode  of  expression,  and  you  have  done  much  to  make 
them  beloved  and  happy. 

FIRMNESS. 

The  office  of  this  organ  is  to  give  stability,  fixedness  of 
purpose,  determination,  and  tenacity  of  mind  and  feeling. 
Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  apply  hard  names  to 
this  organ,  and  as  it  exists  in  some  people,  it  doubtless 
deserves  them.  But  generally  its  abuses  have  been  re- 
garded chiefly,  rather  than  its  natural  or  normal  functions, 
when  opprobrious  epithets  have  been  applied.  Many  per- 
sons seem  to  suppose  that  stubbornness,  obstinacy,  and 


318  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

willfulness  really  indicate  its  normal  characteristics ;  but 
in  the  light  of  a  true  mental  philosophy,  those  names  indi- 
cate the  abuses  of  this  important  element  of  our  nature. 

Firmness  is  not  the  only  quality  or  propensity  that  has 
been  misnamed.  Anger  for  Combativeness,  murder  and 
cruelty  for  Destructiveness,  theft  for  Acquisitiveness,  lying 
for  Secretiveness,  are  terms  quite  as  appropriate  to  the 
natural  functions  of  these  organs  as  are  those  which  are 
commonly  applied  to  Firmness.  When  these  propensities 
are  not  subjected  to  the  restraining  influence  of  other  men- 
tal powers,  they  evince  the  abuses  indicated. 

Everybody  knows  that  in  every  well-constituted  char- 
acter, earnestness  and  executiveness  must  exist.  Suppose 
a  man  having  a  full  share  of  Combativeness  and  De- 
structiveness, to  have  all  his  other  faculties,  his  reason, 
his  moral  sentiments,  his  prudence,  paralyzed,  so  that  they 
should  not  guide,  restrain,  and  modify  Destructiveness 
and  Combativeness,  what  would  he  be  but  a  tiger  ?  In  a 
well-balanced  pair  of  scales,  an  ounce-weight  in  one  side 
is  found  to  turn  that  scale  against  the  empty  one  just  as 
really  as  if  a  ton  had  been  applied  ;  hence  if  a  man  be 
deficient  in  one  element,  a  fair  development  of  the  oppos- 
ing quality  will  show  an  excess.  Not  that  he  has  too 
much  of  the  quality  excessively  indicated,  but  that  he  has 
nothing  to  modify,  restrain,  or  balance  it,  as  a  teaspoonful 
of  lemon-juice  without  its  counterpart,  sugar,  would  seem 
to  embody  the  world  of  acidity.  Some  men  have  a  pre- 
dominance of  animal  propensity,  and  their  tendency  of 
character  is  toward  animal  indulgences ;  others  have  in- 
tellect as  their  prevailing  development,  consequently, 
thought,  and  not  propelling  energy,  is  their  forte ;  others 
have  moral  power,  with  too  little  intelligence  to  guide  it, 
and  are  superstitious.  Some  are  exceedingly  good,  but 
have  too  little  propensity  to  give  them  energy,  courage, 
and  force,  and  are  too  tame  to  produce  upon  society  any 


FlRMKESS.  819 

marked  influence.  They  are  like  lemonade  with  the  lemon 
left  out,  altogether  too  sweet  and  insipid.  Others  are 
warped  and  unbalanced  by  a  predominance  of  social  feel- 
ing. They  will  follow  their  friends,  in  business  to  bank- 
ruptcy, and  in  social  and  convivial  life  to  dissipation  and 
licentiousness ;  whereas,  if  they  had  enough  of  something 
else,  to  keep  their  social  feelings  on  the  track,  in  other 
words,  to  balance  and  offset  them,  while  the  world  would 
admire  them  for  their  cordial  and  social  sympathies,  it 
would  not  be  obliged  to  regret  in  their  behalf  a  course 
of  dissipation  and  social  profligacy.  These  natural  states 
of  mind  are  much  modified  by  circumstances  and  educa- 
tion. Such  influences  as  serve  to  allay  the  activity  of 
strong  faculties,  and  excite  those  which  are  weak  or  dor- 
mant, will  produce  almost  immediate  change  in  the  mani- 
festations. If  a  person  be  irritated  in  consequence  of  large 
Destructiveness  and  Combativeness,  nothing  should  be 
done  or  said  calculated  to  arouse  these  ferocious  lions  of 
his  nature  in  an  unnatural  manner;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
Jlriii'volenc-e,  Approbativencss,  Adhesiveness,  and  Con- 
scientiousness should  be  called  into  activity  by  proper 
words  and  deeds ;  and  although  they  may  be  developed 
only  in  a  subordinate  degree,  it  will  be  surprising  how 
quickly  they  will  respond,  showing  kindness,  justice,  polite- 
ness, and  friendship.  In  other  words,  the  faculties  which 
occupy  a  minor  position,  as  to  power,  may  become  ruling 
and  controlling  forces  by  being  rendered  active;  while 
the  major  forces,  by  inactivity,  shall  be  governed  and 
ruled. 

Firmness,  when  it  exists  in  a  predominant  degree,  will 
often  be  manifested  in  the  form  of  an  obstinate,  captious, 
contrary  spirit,  towering  over  reason,  justice,  and  kindness. 
The  way  to  manage  such  a  character  is  to  address  to  it 
language  and  actions  calculated  to  arouse  the  moral  senti- 
ments and  amiable  dispositions  into  activity,  while  no 


320  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

special  opposition  be  raised  against  the  position  Firmness 
has  taken.  In  such  a  way  a  stubborn  man  may  be  led  or 
a  stubborn  child  subdued,  and  a  complete  victory  be  ob- 
tained by  the  moral  sentiments  over  that  disagreeable 
trait  of  character  which  we  call  stubbornness,  another 
name  for  a  blind  and  energetic  action  of  Firmness.  A 
person  wlio  desires  self-culture  and  wishes  to  modify  his 
excesses  and  develop  his  deficiencies,  can  use  every  effort 
of  judgment  and  moral  power  to  guard  against  his  easily 
besetting  sins ;  to  foster  all  his  weak  and  dormant  facul- 
ties by  all  the  appliances  of  society,  and  other  circum- 
stances, which  are  favorable  to  an  improvement  of  his 
character.  Hence,  a  person  whose  anger  is  his  besetting 
sin  should  be  wise  enough  not  to  go  into  the  society  of 
quarrelsome,  captious  persons ;  and  those  whose  Firmness 
is  extravagant,  should  avoid  those  whose  Firmness  and 
Self-Esteem  are  so  strong  that  a  continual  conflict  for  the 
supremacy  will  always  arise  when  they  meet. 

The  true  nature  of  Firmness  is  to  give  stability,  forti- 
tude, fixedness  of  purpose,  and  constancy  of  character;  to 
enable  one  to  stand  up  against  the  current  of  opposition, 
to  hold  one's  faculties  to  their  work  until  the  duty  is  ful- 
filled. The  influence  of  Firmness  seems  to  terminate  on 
the  mind  itself,  giving  the  quality  of  permanency  to  the 
manifestations  of  the  other  powers.  Thus,  with  Combat- 
iveness,  it  produces  determined  bravery;  with  Conscien- 
tiousness, inflexible  integrity.  It  is  not  the  source  of  en- 
ergy, but  serves  merely  to  hold  the  faculties  of  energy  to 
their  object.  Combativeness  and  J)estructiveness  give 
propelling  energy  to  character,  as  the  sails  or  engine  give 
propulsion  to  a  ship ;  while  Firmness*  keeps  the  working 
faculties  to  their  purpose,  as  the  rudder  keeps  the  ship  on 
her  course  against  winds  and  currents,  thus  making  the 
elements  of  propulsion  available  for  reaching  the  desired 
haven.  A  man  without  Firmness  is  governed  by  a  moment- 


FlKMNESS.  321 

ary  impulse,  and,  like  a  ship  without  a  rudder,  is  blown 
about  by  every  wind,  or  floated  at  will  by  all  the  devious 
currents  that  cross  his  path.  A  man  without  Firmness 
can  not  be  trusted,  however  honest  he  may  be,  because  he 
can  be  persuaded  in  the  direction  of  any  of  his  strong 
faculties ;  and  if  he  can't  say  no,  he  is  liable  to  be  over- 
ruled by  everybody  and  every  circumstance.  When  his 
Benevolence  is  aroused,  he  will  be  all  sympathy,  will  not 
be  able  to  hold  his  feelings  under  proper  check.  We  have 
known  a  man  to  start  off  to  pay  a  debt  long  due,  and 
meeting  some  friend  in  trouble,  he  lent  or  gave  the  money 
which  belonged  to  the  patience-worn  creditor.  The  per- 
son could  not  help  it. 

Firmness  in  proper  development  gives  endurance  to  all 
the  other  mental  powers — a  kind  of  fortitude  and  deter- 
mination to  the  whole  character ;  it  gives  a  stiffness  and 
uprightness  to  the  gait,  a  positiveness  and  hardness  to  the 
manner,  especially  when  opposed ;  a  strong,  steady  coun- 
tenance, a  firm  step,  and  a  decided  and  emphatic  tone  to 
the  voice.  In  the  training  of  children,  therefore,  as  well 
as  in  our  intercourse  with  mankind,  we  should  never  for- 
get the  true  functions  of  Firmness.  If  we  find  it  large  in 
a  person,  we  may  feel  assured  that  mild,  persuasive  meas- 
ures are  most  suitable  to  produce  on  him  any  desired  re- 
sults. If  we  attempt  to  force  such  persons  abruptly,  they 
instinctively  resist  us,  and  positively  refuse  to  do  that 
which  their  judgment,  inclination,  and  conscience  would 
suggest  as  proper  and  desirable  if  they  were  allowed  to 
choose  their  own  course  and  act  freely ;  but  if  compulsory 
measures  are  employed,  they  will  resist  until  left  to  free- 
dom of  choice,  when,  of  their  own  accord,  they  will  per- 
li;ij»s  take  the  very  course  we  had  wished,  and  which  they 
h:ul  refused  to  take  so  long  as  compulsory  measures  were 

USI-.1. 

Whoever  has  seen  a  pair  of  oxen  which  crowd  or  haul, 
U* 


322  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

one  against  the  other  on  the  road,  will  have  seen  a  fine 
illustration  of  Firmness.  When  worked  on  a  narrow  road 
one  wants  more  room,  and  to  get  it  crowds  his  mate.  He 
instantly  resists  so  as  to  keep  room  enough  for  himself; 
thus  they  will  travel  for  miles,  each  leaning  against  the 
other  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  When  oxen  are 
worked  in  a  yoke  which  is  too  short,  they  haul,  that  is  to 
say,  lean  outward  at  a  similar  angle,  their  feet  often  cross- 
ing ;  and  thus  they  labor,  laying  out  more  strength  in  try- 
ing to  maintain  their  footing  than  it  requires  to  draw  their 
load.  If  either  ox  would  cease  his  efforts  against  the 
other,  it  would  break  up  the  habit  in  the  other  at  once. 
Each  crowds  because  the  other  crowds  him. 

Nearly  everybody  has  learned  that  a  stubborn  horse 
that  refuses  to  go  is  made  worse  by  rough  treatment  and 
by  whipping ;  while  by  patience,  mildness,  patting  on  the 
neck,  and  other  soothing  influences,  his  stubbornness  is 
made  to  yield.  It  is  said  that  by  hitching  a  good  draft- 
horse  to  the  tail  of  a  cart  to  which  a  balky  horse  is 
attached,  and  pull  him  backward  for  a  few  yards,  he  will 
rush  forward  and  never  trouble  his  driver  afterward  by 
stopping.  He  thus  finds  his  Firmness  opposed  by  counter- 
firmness,  and  to  gratify  the  faculty  which  makes  him  re- 
fuse to  go,  he  rushes  ahead  in  the  very  direction  his  mas- 
ter wishes  him  to  go,  and  thus  the  habit  of  stopping  is 
cured. 

So  in  the  management  of  children  in  respect  to  Firm- 
ness. If  we  undertake  to  drive  a  child  by  austere  means, 
every  element  of  resistance  is  awakened  in  him.  He  may 
yield  because  his  judgment  may  convince  him  that  he 
must,  or  do  worse ;  yet  it  is  with  an  ill  grace,  and  a  con- 
cealed determination  to  be  more  obstinate  when  it  can  be 
done  without  personal  detriment.  Children  sometimes 
thus  reluctantly  comply  with  the  letter  of  the  imperative 
demand,  while  they  disobey  the  spirit  of  the  requirement. 


FIRMNESS.  323 

A  hungry  child  will  even  refuse  his  dinner  if  an  attempt 
be  made  to  compel  him  to  eat  it.  It  matters  not  whether 
the  thing  to  be  done  is  desirable  in  itself  or  not,  if  he  feels 
restrained  in  his  course,  he  inclines  to  repel  the  domination 
and  braces  himself  up  against  it. 

If  the  organ  of  Firmness  be  too  small,  there  is  a  conse- 
quent vacillation  in  the  effort  of  the  child.  If  he  lack 
fortitude  and  patient  endurance  in  effort,  he  should  have 
objects,  planned  for  him  to  overcome,  and  be  encouraged 
to  hold  his  faculties  in  steady,  stern  action,  until  he 
achieves  his  victories  over  the  obstacles  which  obstruct  his 
pathway.  Every  successful  effort  we  make,  every  triumph 
over  difficulties,  strengthens  the  faculty  of.  Firmness,  and 
imparts  power  and  a  disposition  to  meet  opposition,  and  to 
rely  upon  self  for  success.  If  a  mother  will  stand  by  a 
child  and  cheer  him  on  in  his  attempts  to  conquer  difficul- 
ties, urge  him  to  try  and  to  try  again,  she  will  create  in 
his  mind  a  habit  of  unyielding  effort,  and  the  feeling  that 
any  possible  end  can  and  must  be  achieved  by  it.  If 
children  axe  not  well  endowed  with  Firmness,  give  them 
easy  tasks  at  first,  then  more  difficult  ones;  but  never 
overtask  and  thus  discourage  them. 

As  the  office  of  Firmness  is  to  produce  stability,  perse- 
verance, and  permanency  to  the  feelings  and  actions,  it 
should  be  cultivated  when  deficient.  Without  it  man 
vacillates  and  gives  back  under  trial  and  hardship,  and  he 
fails  to  realize  the  proper  results  of  his  plans  and  purposes. 
Intellect  may  reason  and  plan,  desire  may  urge  to  action, 
ambition  prompt  to  effort,  and  courage  act  in  vain.  If  a 
man  be  deficient  in  Firmness,  he  will  be  like  the  steamer 
with  her  machinery  working  vigorously,  with  nobody  at 
the  helm.  It  is  a  great  hindrance  to  success,  therefore,  to 
have  this  organ  weak ;  and  hence  it  should  be  cultivated 
whenever  \f,  is  deficient,  especially  in  children.  If  a  child 
inclines  to  give  up,  because  the  work  is  difficult  or  tho 


324  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

journey  long,  special  pains  should  be  taken  to  brace  up 
and  encourage  him  in  the  exercise  of  Firmness  and  sta- 
bility. 

On  the  contrary,  though  large  Firmness  be  often  a  help, 
it  is  sometimes  a  hindrance.  Those  who  are  always  in- 
clined to  have  their  own  way,  to  be  stubborn  and  con- 
trary, apparently  for  the  sake  of  carrying  their  point,  are 
apt  to  be  opposed  by  everybody.  Whoever  has  anything 
to  do  with  such  persons  is  apt  to  plan  beforehand,  in  such 
a  way  as  to  compel  the  stubborn  one  to  yield  his  point. 
There  seems  to  be  a  delight  on  the  part  of  everybody  to 
get  such  people  into  close  quarters ;  hence  they  lay  plans 
purposely  to  head  them  off  and  circumvent  them.  Be- 
sides, stubborn  characters  are  not  only  unpleasant  to  get 
along  with,  but  often  positively  offensive  in  their  tone  of 
mind  and  in  the  character  of  their  manifestations,  and 
thereby  are  rendered  so  unpopular,  that  people  seem  to 
take  a  pleasure  in  disobliging  them.  Again,  the  stubborn 
man,  when  he  has  committed  himself  to  any  course  of 
action,  has  so  strong  a  disinclination  to  modify,  change,  or 
retreat  from  his  position,  that  he  forces  it  through,  often 
to  his  inconvenience,  loss,  and  perhaps  disgrace.  And 
there  is  no  greater  tyrant  over  a  man  than  his  own  inor- 
dinate Firmness.  It  even  tends  to  silence  the  kindliest 
sympathies,  and  to  shut  in  the  most  tender  and  generous 
emotions  of  the  soul.  We  have  seen  some  instances  of 
perverted  Firmness  almost  as  pitiable  and  ridiculous  as 
the  .story  of  two  brothers,  who  owned  contiguous  farms, 
parts  of  the  old  homestead,  having  quarreled  about  line 
fences  and  other  trivial  matters  for  twenty  years;  one 
being  sick,  and  on  his  death-bed,  invited  the  other  to 
call  on  him  before  he  died.  Feeling  that  he  was  near  his 
end,  he  desired  to  make  up  their  quarrel  and  die  in  peace, 
which  was  accordingly  agreed  to.  But  the  excitement  of 
the  conversation  aroused  the  sick  brother  for  the  moment 


CONTINUITY  OR  CONCENTRATIVENESS.      325 

and  made  him  feel  comparatively  strong ;  and  as  his  visitor 
was  about  leaving  him,  he  remarked:  " Now,  mind,  if  I 
die,  the  difficulty  is  settled,  but  if  I  get  well,  the  old 
grudge  holds  good!" 


CONTINUITY  OR  CONCENTRATIVENESS. 

The  offices  of  Continuity  and  Firmness  are  often  con- 
founded by  those  who  are  not  well  versed  in  the  phreno- 
logical theory  and  in  mental  analysis  ;  so  also  are  those  of 
Combativeness  and  Destructiveness,  Ideality  and  Sublimity, 
Self-Esteem  and  Approbativeness,  and  Cautiousness  and 
Secretiveness.  We  will  endeavor  to  draw  the  line  of  dis- 
tinction between  Continuity  and  Firmness. 

The  faculty  of  Continuity  gives  the  power  of  mental 
abstraction,  ability  to  devote  the  intellect  or  the  feelings 
to  a  given  subject  or  object  with  a  patient,  consecutive 
application — to  become  so  much  absorbed  in  its  contem- 
plation as  to  lose  the  consciousness  of  all  other  ideas  and 
surrounding  circumstances,  such  as  the  striking  of  a  clock, 
the  passage  of  time,  the  voice  of  a  friend,  hunger,  cold, 
and  even  bodily  pain.  Firmness  gives  a  stiff,  determined 
fortitude,  decision  of  character,  and  serves  to  brace  up  the 
other  faculties,  whether  the  action  of  those  faculties  be 
continued  for  a  moment  or  prolonged  for  days.  Firmness 
gives  a  kind  of  determination  and  obstinacy  of  purpose, 
while  Continuity  gives  a  patient,  perfecting,  plodding  ap- 
plication. We  may,  perhaps,  illustrate  the  action  of  these 
faculties  in  this  way  :  two  men  are  working  in  stone ;  both 
have  large  Firmness,  and  they  are  alike  thorough  and  per- 
severing. But  one  has  large  Continuity,  and  prefers  to 
use  the  drill  in  one  place  for  hours,  while  the  other,  with 
small  Continuity,  craves  variety^  and  prefers  to  use  the 
chisel  in  cutting  and  dressing  the  entire  surface  of  the 
stone.  Each  exercises  Firmness  and  energy  in  an  equal 


326  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

degree,  but  one  brings  his  whole  mind  and  energy  to  a 
single  point,  while  the  other  indulges  his  love  of  variety 
in  giving  only  a  single  blow  in  a  place. 

Continuity  existing  in  excess  gives  to  persons  a  dreamy 
absent-mindedness,  a  neglect  of  the  pressing  duties  of  life, 
.  to  pertinaciously  follow  some  single  idea.  They  are  those 
who  make  a  hobby  of  whatever  they  do,  and  think  the 
world  hinges  on  that  which  engages  their  attention,  and 
they  are  utterly  astonished  that  all  mankind  do  not  em- 
brace their  subject  at  once,  and  see  it  as  they  do.  They 
throw  their  whole  power  upon  a  single  object  or  theme. 
Their  minds  become  to  that  subject  microscopic,  which 
magnifies  it  into  mammoth  importance,  while  they  leave 
unnoticed  all  the  rest  of  the  wide  domain  of  thought  as  if 
it  did  not  exist ;  or  if  they  deign  to  consider  it  at  all,  it  is 
only  as  the  mere  granite  pedestal  of  their  adored  Parian 
statue,  or  as  only  the  indistinct  background  to  that  picture 
on  which  the  entire  light  of  their  soul  is  thrown.  As 
speakers,  they  are  tedious  in  the  careful  examination  of 
details ;  as  writers,  prosy  and  voluminous. 

The  heavy,  lumbering,  long-winded  style  of  many  Eng- 
lish authors,  contrasted  with  the  terse,  nervous,  pithy  style 
of  American  writers,  evinces  the  action  of  large  and  small 
Continuity.  The  mode  of  doing  business  and  manner  of 
working  of  the  people  of  the  two  nations  is  in  good  keep- 
ing with  their  style  of  writing.  In  England,  an  artisan 
serves  seven  years  to  learn,  and  follows  for  life  a  single 
branch  of  a  trade,  and  bends  his  entire  mind  to  that, 
which  gives  facility  and  perfection  to  his  skill  in  that 
one  line  of  effort ;  while  in  America,  a  man  is  in  turn  a 
farmer,  a  carpenter,  a  blacksmith,  a  shoemaker,  a  peddler, 
a  teacher,  a  lecturer,  and  a  lawyer,  and  can  pursue  each 
with  tolerable  success. 

A  man  residing  in  Indiana,  about  forty  years  of  age, 
recently  called  at  our  office  for  an  examination,  and  we 


CONTINUITY  OR  CONCENTRATIVENESS.      327 

told  him  he  had  "  so  much  ingenuity  and  such  small  Con- 
tinuity that  he  would  be  likely  to  spend  his  whole  life  in 
learning  trades  rather  than  in  following  one."  He  replied 
that  he  could  get  full  wages  at  seventeen  different  trades, 
but  he  preferred  the  last  one  that  he  took  up,  gunsmithing, 
and  he  had  confined  himself  to  it  for  several  years. 

A  man  sometimes  finds  it  convenient  to  abandon  a 
trade  or  profession  which  he  has  unwisely  adopted,  and 
prepare  himself  to  follow  one  more  in  harmony  with  his 
talents  and  taste  than  that  which  necessity,  ignorant 
guardians,  or  the  fanciful  whim  of  his  boyhood  led  him  to 
adopt.  With  a  versatility  of  talent,  so  prevalent  in  the 
American  mind,  arising  from  an  active  temperament,  large 
perceptive  organs,  and  average  Continuity,  a  man,  in  case 
of  failure  in  one  occupation,  can  assume  a  new  one,  and 
become  proficient  and  highly  successful  in  it.  Yet  we 
ought  to  guard  against  having  too  many  irons  in  the  fire — 
to  find  an  appropriate  pursuit  in  the  outset,  and  adhere  to 
it.  In  a  highly  advanced  state  of  society  labor  becomes 
divided  into  its  different  branches,  so  that  each  may  follow 
one  for  life.  In  a  city,  for  example,  where  men  are  numer- 
ous, business  becomes  thus  divided.  In  the  construction 
of  a  house,  for  instance,  no  less  than  eleven  different  classes 
of  artisans  are  successively  employed.  First,  the  class 
whose  pursuit  it  is  to  excavate  the  cellar,  which  requires, 
perhaps,  twenty  carts,  according  to  the  distance  the  earth 
is  to  be  carried  to  a  place'of  deposit ;  next  come  the  stone- 
masons,  who  leave  when  that  part  is  done;  the  brick 
masons  follow ;  the  carpenter  succeeds ;  then  the  plaster- 
ers; next  the  joiners;  then  the  stucco-plasterers  ;  then  the 
glaziers;  next  the  plain  painters;  then  the  grainer;  and 
last  the  paper-hanger.  But  in  the  country,  the  mason 
will  excavate  and  stone  the  cellar,  and  do  all  the  brick 
work  and  plastering,  and  the  carpenter  will  put  up  the 
frame  and  do  all  the  j oilier  work,  glaze,  paint,  and  paper 


328  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

the  house ;  and  not  a  few  will  do  the  entire  work  of  a 
house  in  decent  style,  embodying  eleven  distinct  trades, 
as  they  are  recognized  in  the  city. 

In  the  new  regions  of  the  West,  from  a  lack  of  trades- 
men, or  from  lack  of  means  to  pay  them,  men  are  com- 
pelled to  turn  their  hands  to  all  branches  of  business 
which  their  necessities  demand,  embracing  tilling  the  soil 
and  constructing  nearly  all  their  agricultural  implements, 
building  their  houses,  making  their  shoes,  household  furni- 
ture, etc.,  and  although  the  things  made  may  be  rude,  they 
answer  the  purpose,  while  this  discipline  gives  a  versatile 
tone  to  the  character.  Is  it  strange  that  such  people  should 
have  small  Continuity?  It  should  be  remembered  that 
this  mode  of  American  life,  although  it  renders  Continuity 
small,  has  the  effect  to  stimulate  the  faculties  of  perceptive 
intellect,  Constructiveness,  and  all  those  elements  which 
give  self-reliance ;  but  does  it  not  also  impart  to  the  char- 
acter a  tendency  to  vacillation,  restlessness,  and  impatience  ? 
As  society  becomes  older,  and  the  branches  of  labor  are 
more  divided  among  artisans,  a  less  degree  of  enterprise 
and  versatility  of  talent  may  be  the  result,  but  we  shall 
have  a  higher  order  of  skill  and  perfection  in  the  indus- 
trial arts. 

The  faculty  of  Continuity  should  be  cultivated  in  the 
American  mind  ;  there  is  too  much  shifting  and  changing, 
too  great  fondness  for  variety ;  a  curiosity  to  make  all 
parts  of  an  article,  a  rifle,  for  instance,  when  several 
distinct  trades  are  necessarily  involved  in  its  construction. 
The  result  is,  that  it  takes  three  times  as  long  for  a  man 
to  make  all  parts  of  a  rifle  indifferently  well,  as  it  would 
if  the  different  parts  were  allotted  to  different  men  who 
had  followed  each  his  part  until  it  was  perfectly  mastered. 
We  often  find  a  kind  of  mechanical  pride  among  artisans 
to  have  it  to  say,  though  perhaps  a  mason,  "  I  made  that 
bass-viol,  tuning-fork,  rifle,  writing-desk,  table,  carving- 


CONTINUITY  OR  CONCENTEATIYENESS.     329 

knife,  set  of  spoons,  a  pair  of  boots,"  etc.  Thus,  men  will 
neglect  their  regular  business  and  spend  their  time  in 
tinkering  at  things  which  they  could  earn  in  half  the  time 
at  their  own  trades,  and  those  of  a  better  quality,  while 
their  prosperity  and  the  comfort  of  their  families  are  sac- 
rificed on  the  altar  of  this  foolish  vanity.  Such  "  rolling 
stones  gather  no  moss."  Whatever  has  the  quality  of 
steady  perseverance  and  close  application  in  it,  they 
dislike.  As  students,  they  are  superficial — they  read  rather 
tli an  study — know  a  little  of  everything,  and  are  well 
versed  and  profoand  in  nothing. 

The  advancement  of  society  requires  that  he  who  is  an 
assayer  of  metals,  or  a  chemist,  should  apply  the  entire 
strength  of  his  mind  to  perfect  himself  in  his  science ;  so 
should  the  lawyer,  the  engineer,  the  navigator,  the  painter, 
the  sculptor,  the  musician,  the  glass-worker,  the  machinist, 
the  ship-builder,  the  engraver,  the  printer,  the  architect, 
and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  catalogue,  in  order  that  the 
highest  degree  of  facility  and  perfection  may  be  attained. 
It  is  folly  for  every  man  to  expect  to  range  the  whole  cir- 
cle of  the  sciences — to  demonstrate  every  species  of 
knowledge.  After  a  man  has  completed  his  daily  duties 
in  his  own  sphere  of  usefulness,  he  may  sit  down  with  the 
works  of  Liebig,  or  Lardner,  Humboldt,  Audubon,  Cuvier, 
or  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  and  drink  in  the  fruit  of  their 
extensive  research  in  the  great  arcana  of  nature,  and 
become  wise,  without  indulging  in  the  vain  pride  of  trying 
to  make  all  the  discoveries  and  demonstrations  for  himself. 
It  is  so  in  mechanism.  "  Mind  your  business,"  is  an  excel- 
lent motto,  and  suggests  the  exercise  of  Continuity. 

Let  mothers  and  teachers  seek  to  lead  the  minds  of 
children  to  a  habit  of  patient,  concentrated  labor.  Teach 
them  to  do  or  study  one  thing  at  a  time,  and  that  thor- 
oughly. The  habit  of  requiring  students  to  get  half  a 
dozen  lessons  on  different  subjects  in  a  single  half  day, 


330  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

dissipates  the  mind  at  the  same  time  that  it  overtasks  it. 
A  judicious  variety,  which  calls  out  different  classes  of 
faculties,  serves  to  rest  the  mind.  If  a  child  have  small 
Continuity,  keep  him  more  strictly  to  one  thing;  if  too 
large,  give  him,  and  require  him  to  follow  a  variety  of 
pursuits  or  studies,  to  impart  a  necessary  elasticity  and 
versatility  of  mind. 

We  would  urge  the  due  exercise  of  all  the  faculties,  but 
let  every  man  have  one  leading,  reliable  occupation  to  lean 
upon,  in  which  to  exert  his  power  and  perfect  himself,  and 
let  other  subjects  and  branches  of  business  be  employed 
as  a  collateral  recreation  and  pastime.  Many  persons,  by 
trying  to  do  and  know  everything,  fail  in  all,  and  remind 
us  of  a  cat  of  ours,  which,  when  let  into  a  room  with  a 
number  of  mice,  seized  one  in  her  mouth,  and  one  with 
each  fore  paw,  and  then  stood  and  growled  because  she 
could  not  catch  the  rest,  and  did  not  seem  to  know  how 
to  dispatch  those  in  her  power.  -She  had  her  "hands  too 
full." 

The  office  of  Firmness  seems  to  be  to  stand  up  against 
positive  opposition,  and  to  meet  and  overcome  difficulties 
in  conjunction  with  Combativeness,  while  Continuity  is 
shown  more  in  a  patient  waiting  for  a  chance  to  act,  and 
quietly  improving  that  chance  when  it  arises.  It  is  in  no 
hurry,  but  merely  takes  hold  and  works  as  it  has  opportu- 
nity ;  if  obliged  to  suspend,  it  remembers  where  it  left  off, 
as  the  plovr,  left  in  the  furrow  over-night,  moves  off,  on 
the  arrival  of  the  team,  in  the  same  channel  as  if  it  had  not 
been  interrupted. 

Continuity  works  with  any  of  the  faculties  equally  well. 
Does  Ideality  inspire,  it  ministers  to  disconnect  the  mind 
from  diverting  influences  until  Ideality  has  wrought  out 
its  purposes.  To  the  mathematician  it  gives  patient,  con- 
tinuous effort  to  the  mathematical  faculties ;  to  the  reasoner 
or  linguist,  united  action  to  the  reasoning  and  the  literary 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.  331 

faculties,  in  like  manner  as  it  inspired  the  Philoprogeni- 
tiveness  of  Rachel,  who  "  refused  to  be  comforted,"  when 
mourning  for  her  children,  "  because  they  were  not." 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

No  quality  of  the  mental  constitution  is  more  import- 
ant than  Conscientiousness;  none  is  more  talked  about, 
and  none  less  understood.  Certainly  the  metaphysicians 
of  the  last  three  hundred  years  have  not  settled  the  ques- 
tion as  to  its  nature  and  uses ;  and  we  may  confidentially 
remark  that  Phrenology  at  a  single  bound  has  dissipated 
the  doubt  and  darkness  which  hitherto  had  enshrouded 
the  subject ;  and  if  it  had  conferred  no  other  benefit  on  the 
human  race,  its  discoverer  would  deserve  honorable  men- 
tion and  perpetual  remembrance  by  every  thinker  and 
every  lover  of  his  race. 

The  location  of  this  organ  is  on  each  side  of  the  organ 
of  Firmness,  which  organ  is  situated  in  the  middle  of  the 
back  part  of  the  top-head.  If  a  line  be  drawn  from  the 
opening  of  the  ears  to  the  top  of  the  head,  it  will  rest  on 
the  front  part  of  Firmness ;  the  organ  of  Conscientious- 
ness being  situatc'd  outward  from  Firmness  on  each  side, 
it  gives,  when  large,  elevation  and  expansiveness  to  that 
part  of  the  head.  When  Conscientiousness  is  small,  the 
head  slopes  like  a  steep  roof. 

When  this  faculty  is  powerful,  the  individual  is  disposed 
to  regulate  his  conduct  by  the  nicest  sentiments  of  justice. 
In  his  manner  there  is  earnestness,  integrity,  and  truth, 
which  inspires  us  with  confidence  and  the  conviction  of 
his  sincerity. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  conflicting  opinions  which 
have  been  entertained  on  the  subject  of  moral  conscious- 
ness by  various  writers.  Some  seem  to  have  a  clear  per- 
ception of  the  truth ;  some  regard  the  moral  faculty  as 


332  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

being  the  action  of  Approbativeness,  Cautiousness,  or  the 
elements  of  self-interest.  Hobbs,  for  example,  taught  that 
"  we  approve  virtuous  actions,  or  the  actions  beneficial  to 
society,  from  self-love ;  because  we  know  that  whatever 
promotes  the  interests  of  society  has,  on  that  very  account, 
an  indirect  tendency  to  promote  our  own." 

He  further  taught  that  "  the  laws  which  the  civil  magis- 
trate enjoins  are  the  ultimate  standards  of  morality."  It 
is  easy  to  see  that  with  this  writer  reasoning  and  consid- 
erations of  self-interest  took  the  place  of  Conscientious- 
ness. 

Mandeville  maintained  as  his  theory  that,  by  nature, 
man  is  utterly  selfish ;  that  "  among  other  desires  which 
he  liked  to  have  gratified,  he  received  a  strong  appetite  for 
praise ;  that  the  founders  of  society,  availing  themselves 
of  this  propensity,  instituted  the  custom  of  dealing  out 
a  certain  measure  of  applause  for  each  sacrifice  made  by 
selfishness  to  the  public  good,  and  called  the  sacrifice — vir- 
tue." This  idea,  of  course,  arose  from  a  man  in  whom 
Approbativeness  was  the  prevailing  characteristic,  and  in 
whom  also  the  faculty  of  Conscientiousness  was  naturally 
weak. 

Mr.  Hume  wrote  an  elaborate  treatise  to  prove  that 
"  utility  is  the  constituent  or  measure  of  virtue."  Accord- 
ing to  this  system,  "  virtue  is  the  mere  search  of  pleasure 
or  personal  gratification ;  it  gives  up  one  pleasure,  but  it 
gives  it  up  for  a  greater ;  it  sacrifices  a  present  enjoyment, 
but  it  sacrifices  it  only  to  obtain  some  enjoyment,  which  in 
intensity  or  duration  is  fairly  worth  the  sacrifice.  Hence, 
in  every  instance  in  which  an  individual  seems  to  pursue 
the  good  of  others  as  good,  he  seeks  his  own  personal 
gratification,  and  nothing  else." 

Doctor  Paley,  the  most  popular  of  all  authors  on  Moral 
Philosophy,  does  not  admit  a  natural  sentiment  of  justice 
in  the  human  mind  as  a  foundation  of  virtue,  but  adheres 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.  333 

to  the  selfish  system  under  a  modified  form.  He  makes 
virtue  to  consist  in  "  the  doing  of  good  to  mankind  in 
obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  and  for  the  sake  of  everlast- 
ing happiness."  According  to  this  doctrine,  "  the  will  of 
God  is  our  rule,  but  private  happiness  our  motive."  It  is 
only  selfishness  in  another  form. 

Doctor  Adam  Smith  in  his  theory  of  the  moral  senti- 
ments labors  to  show  that  "  the  standard  of  moral  appro- 
bation is  sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  impartial  spectator 
with  the  action  and  object  of  the  party  whose  conduct  is 
judged  of." 

Doctor  Clarke,  Doctor  Hutcheson,  Doctor  Reid,  Lord 
Kames,  and  Mr.  Stewart  recognize  the  existence  of  a 
moral  faculty  which  produces  the  sentiment  of  right  and 
wrong  independent  of  other  considerations. 

These  conflicting  theories  will  convey  to  the  reader  some 
idea  of  the  great  value  of  Phrenology  if  it  can  fix  on  a 
firm  basis  this  single  point  in  the  philosophy  of  the  mind. 
According  to  phrenological  teaching,  there  exists  a  power 
or  faculty  distinct  from  all  others,  the  object  of  which  is 
to  produce  a  sentiment  of  justice,  a  feeling  of  duty  and 
obligation  independent  of  selfishness,  fear  of  punishment, 
or  hope  of  reward.  Those  persons  who  have  the  organ 
laro;o,  experience  powerfully  the  sentiment  of  justice;  while 
those  in  whom  it  is  small,  are  little  alive  to  the  emotion.  It 
is  as  easy  to  observe  the  difference  existing  between  per- 
sons in  regard  to  this  development  and  the  corresponding 
manifestation,  as  it  is  to  demonstrate  any  palpable  conclu- 
sion of  physical  science. 

It  is  the  office  of  Conscientiousness  to  produce  the  feel- 
ing of  obligation  or  incumbency.  Justice  is  the  result  of 
this  sentiment,  acting  in  combination  with  the  intellectual 
powers.  In  moral  investigations  this  faculty  is  highly 
essential  to  produce  a  truly  philosophical  mind ;  lifting  the 
individual  above  prejudice  and  interest,  it  leads  him  to 


334  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

desire  truth,  gives  him  a  readiness  of  recognizing  it,  and 
a  perfect  reliance  upon  its  invincible  supremacy.  One  in 
whom  this  faculty  is  deficient,  inclines  to  view  propositions 
as  mere  opinions,  estimates  them  as  they  are  fashionable 
or  obnoxious,  profitable  or  unprofitable,  and  cares  but 
little  for  the  real  basis  on  which  they  rest.  To  those  in 
whom  the  organ  is  small,  no  quality  of  the  mind  is  more 
incomprehensible  than  this.  They  can  understand  conduct 
which  proceeds  from  ambition,  revenge,  or  self-interest,  or 
any  other  inferior  feeling ;  but  that  high  moral  integrity 
which  suffers  reproach,  and  even  death  itself,  from  the  dis- 
interested love  of  truth,  seems  to  them  inexplicable.  Men 
who  are  more  highly  endowed  with  this  love  of  truth  than 
others  become  the  martyrs  of  the  ages  in  which  they  live. 
They  are  regarded  as  insane,  essentially  mad,  or  fanatical. 
Madame  De  Stael  narrated  of  Bonaparte  that  he  never  was 
so  completely  baffled  in  his  estimate  of  character  as  when 
he  met  with  opposition  from  a  person  actuated  by  the 
pure  principle  of  integrity  alone ;  he  did  not  comprehend 
the  motives  of  such  a  man,  and  could  not  imagine  how  he 
might  be  managed. 

As  we  have  snid,  this  sentiment  must  act  in  conjunction 
with  intellect.  While  it  produces  in  the  character  a  desire 
for  the  right,  a  love  for  justice  and  duty,  a  willingness  to 
labor  and  suffer  for  the  right,  it  is  not  a  sure  guide  as  to 
what  is  right.  Man  has  to  be  educated;  parents  are 
bound  to  instruct  their  children  as  to  what  is  right  be- 
tween man  and  man  ;  and  when  this  instruction  is  received, 
those  who  have  Conscientiousness  feel  bound  to  obey; 
those  in  whom  it  is  weak  obey  according  as  interest  or 
convenience  may  dictate.  Every  emotion  requires  intel- 
lect to  guide  and  regulate  it.  Anger  springs  into  spon- 
taneous activity;  reason,  prudence,  and  policy  pave  the 
way  for  its  progress,  or  barricade  it.  Parental  love  is 
awakened ;  the  reason  must  teach  the  mother  how  to  ex- 


CONSCIENTIOUSNESS.  335 

ercise  her  love  for  the  best  good  of  the  child.  Sometimes 
parental  love  must  be  crossed  for  the  moment,  while  we 
deny  to  childhood  that  which  parental  love  would  blindly 
concede.  Amativeness  is  an  emotion  which  needs  intellect 
to  guide  and  regulate  it,  to  instruct  it  in  the  direction  and 
in  the  manner  it  may  properly  be  exercised ;  and  Consci- 
entiousness, though  it  seems  to  be  the  supremest  sentiment 
of  the  whole  mental  nature,  needs  light  as  a  basis  for  its 
action  as  much  as  any  other  emotion. 

In  the  training  of  children,  it  is  of  the  first  importance 
to  impress  them  with  clear  and  distinct  notions  of  duty. 
A  thousand  opportunities  are  offered  in  the  nursery  to  in- 
struct the  child  in  the  exercise  of  this  sentiment  respect- 
ing his  intercourse  with  his  fellows ;  and  if  there  is  any 
one  injunction  of  more  importance  than  any  other  con- 
nected with  the  whole  subject  of  domestic  education,  it  is 
this :  that  the  child  shall  receive  the  impression  from  his 
earliest  years,  that  he  may  expect  unswerving  integrity 
and  justice  from  his  parents ;  that  he  may  rely  upon  their 
word,  their  truthfulness — that  they  will  not  deceive  him ; 
and  that  if  he  be  promised  a  penalty  for  wrong-doing,  he 
is  just  as  sure  of  receiving  that  penalty  as  that  he  lives ; 
or  if  any  excuse  or  extenuation  be  given,  the  child  should 
be  made  to  see  the  justice  on  which  he  is  forgiven — the 
reasons  why  he  is  exempt  from  punishment.  The  little 
girl  who,  when  her  mother's  word  was  doubted,  opened 
her  radiant  eyes  and  said,  "  My  mother  never  tells  a  lie," 
expressed  precisely  what  every  child  should  have  reason 
to  feel  and  believe  in  respect  to  the  parent.  We  do  not 
believe  in  telling  children  everything,  of  having  no  con- 
cealments ;  but  what  is  told  to  the  child  should  be  the 
truth.  If  he  may  not  know  a  fact,  it  does  no  harm  to  let 
him  understand  that  you  conceal  it  intentionally  for  good 
reasons.  There  is  no  duty  which  the  mother  can  perform 
with  such  hope  of  reward  or  neglect  with  such  prospect 


336  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

of  moral  disaster  as  the  personal  training  of  her  children. 
Those  who  leave  the  young  in  the  hands  of  selfish  and 
ignorant  servants  who,  to  further  their  own  convenience, 
will  frame  any  story  to  allay  the  curiosity  of  the  child, 
and  mislead  it,  or  frighten  it  into  obedience,  or  deceive  it 
into  compliance,  do  more  to  deprave  the  morals  of  the  ris- 
ing generation  than  all  the  Sunday-schools  and  pulpits  of 
the  land  can  eradicate. 


VENERATION. 

The  function  of  this  faculty  is  to  produce  the  sentiment 
of  reverence  or  veneration  in  general.  It  is  the  foundation 
of  the  sentiment  of  piety  or  religion,  and  of  that  tendency 
to  worship  a  superior  Power  which  manifests  itself  in  every 
tribe  of  men  yet  discovered.  The  faculty  of  Veneration, 
does  not  tell  us  what  to  worship  or  reverence,  but  pro- 
duces an  emotion  leading  us  to  respect  whatever  is  great, 
powerful,  or  good ;  and  the  other  faculties,  the  intellect 
especially,  has  much  to  do  in  deciding  what  is  great,  good, 
or  venerable.  Veneration,  like  Conscientiousness,  was  de- 
signed to  have  intellect  as  its  guide.  Heathen  nations 
worship  things  which  their  own  hands  have  made,  but 
which  we  suppose  they  regard  as  mere  symbols  of  power, 
of  goodness,  and  of  greatness.  This  emotion  in  itself  be- 
ing blind,  is  clamorous  for  an  object  toward  which  to  send 
its  prayers  and  its  reverence,  and  when  unenlightened, 
it  still  acts  with  all  its  strength,  but  is  misguided  and 
erratic. 

This  sentiment  also  produces  the  element  of  filial  love 
and  reverence.  To  the  little  child,  the  father  and  mother 
occupy  the  position  of  God.  Burns  somewhere  says  that 
"  man  is  the  god  of  the  dog,"  and  describes,  in  glowing 
terms,  his  fidelity  and  submission  ;  and  intimates  that  if 
man  were  half  so  faithful  to  his  God  as  the  dog  is  to  his 


VENEKATIOX.  337 

master,  the  world  would  be  greatly  elevated  in  this  re- 
spect. Mr.  Combe  remarks  that,  "  It  is  a  groundless  terror 
to  apprehend  that  religion  will  ever  be  extinguished  or 
even  endangered  by  the  arguments  or  ridicule  of  the  pro- 
fane, because  Nature  has  implanted  the  organs  of  Venera- 
tion and  Wonder  (or  Spirituality)  in  the  brain,  and  the 
corresponding  sentiments  in  the  mind.  Forms  of  worship 
may  change,  and  particular  religious  tenets  may  now  be 
fashionable,  and,  subsequently,  fall  into  decay ;  but  while 
the  human  heart  continues  to  beat,  veneration  for  the 
Divine  Being  will  ever  animate  the  soul.  The  worshiper 
will  cease  to  kneel,  and  the  hymn  of  adoration  to  rise, 
only  when  the  race  of  man  becomes  extinct." 

We  have  said  that  Veneration  does  not  teach  us  what 
to  worship,  but  to  worship  whatever  the  other  faculties 
aid  us  to  recognize  as  great,  good,  or  wise ;  in  short,  supe- 
riority. Parental  Love  teaches  the  mother  to  love  her 
own  offspring  par  excellence  ;  but  Parental  Love  does  not 
enable  the  mother  to  determine  which  is  her  own  child ; 
and  if  it  could  be  removed  from  her  at  the  hour  of  birth, 
and  another  woman's  child  put  in  its  place,  she  would  love 
it  with  all  her  maternal  fondness  as  her  own.  At  the  end 
of  a  year,  let  her,  through  her  intellect,  be  convinced  that 
the  child  belongs  to  another,  and  have  her  own  child 
pointed  out  to  her,  and  without  a  doubt  she  would  transfer 
her  love  from  the  alien  to  her  own  child.  She  would, 
however,  feel  a  tenderness  toward  the  one  she  had  nursed 
BO  long ;  for  we  know  that  women  who  take  children  to 
nurse,  knowing  they  belong  to  others,  will  retain  for  them 
for  years  a  tenderness  which  they  do  not  feel  toward  other 
children  of  the  same  family  who  are  in  all  respects  as  beau- 
tiful and  as  good.  In  like  manner  Veneration  can  be  mis- 
led. A  child  just  as  naturally,  until  he  learns  better, 
pours  out  reverence  before  an  altar  consecrated  to  a  false 
deity,  with  a  fervor  worthy  of  the  true  God.  But  instruct 

15 


338  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

his  judgment,  and  he  will  employ  the  same  Veneration, 
with  equal  fervor,  but  toward  the  right  object. 

The  faculty  of  Veneration  requires  training  and  culture, 
especially  in  a  republican  country.  Where  each  man  is 
equally  free,  and  every  position  of  trust  and  honor  are  open 
to  him,  he  is  not  apt  to  have  his  Veneration  much  culti- 
vated in  the  direction  of  reverence  for  superior  classes; 
and  the  sentiment  not  being  strong  in  such  a  people  toward 
rulers  and  men  of  position,  it  ceases  to  be  active  and  vig- 
orous in  its  exercise  toward  the  Supreme  Being.  The 
children  of  such  parents  are  liable  to  inherit  less  than  their 
parents  have,  and  by  their  want  of  culture,  in  this  respect, 
Veneration  is  not  increased,  and  it  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  Young  America,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  speaks  of 
his  parents  as  the  "old  folks,"  and  assumes  in  the  society 
of  his  parents  and  their  friends  such  conversation  as  prop- 
erly belongs  to  persons  of  full  age.  In  other  words,  Young 
America  is  fast,  saucy,  pert,  independent;  and  if  we  were 
to  say  that  this  is  one  of  the  chief  faults  of  the  American 
character,  we  should  not  be  disputed  by  any  of  our  coun- 
trymen who  have  carefully  and  properly  studied  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  we  would  probably  have  the  unanimous  verdict 
of  all  cultivated  foreigners. 

In  monarchical  countries,  where  they  have  lords,  nobles, 
and  privileged  classes,  where  the  property  is  entailed, 
where  rich  men  are  very  rich,  and  the  great  masses,  if  not 
very  poor,  have  no  opportunity  of  becoming  rich,  where 
there  is  a  state  church,  and  the  form  of  religious  worship 
is  mostly  of  a  devotional  character,  surrounded  by  signs 
and  symbols,  by  ceremony  and  parade,  Veneration  be- 
comes large  and  active,  and  the  idea  of  the  "divine  right 
of  kings"  is  easily  inculcated,  because  the  people  are 
adapted  to  accept  it.  For  a  country,  however,  where 
every  man  may  vote  or  hold  office,  where  the  poorest  or- 
phan boy  may  rise  to  be  the  chief  magistrate ;  where  there 


339 

is  no  State  church,  and  the  tendencies  to  plainness  and 
democratic  simplicity  in  religious  observances  prevail, 
how  can  it  be  expected  that  Veneration  can  be  much  en- 
couraged in  the  mental  constitution  ?  Profane  swearing 
is  believed  to  be  more  common  in  the  United  States  than 
in  any  other  country  in  the  world !  It  certainly  is  more 
prevalent  than  in  England  ;  and  we  suspect  that  the  rea- 
son is  to  be  found  in  the  smaller  Veneration  in  the  Ameri- 
can head,  and  its  greater  development  in  the  heads  of 
other  nations.  It  is  said  the  language  of  the  Indian  has 
no  words  for  cursing  one  another,  or  for  insulting  the 
Great  Spirit. 

We  deprecate  the  smallness  of  this  organ  in  our  country. 
We  are  less  polite  to  each  other  than  would  be  agreeable ; 
the  aged  receive  less  respect  from  the  young  than  they 
deserve ;  and  in  our  worship  there  is  less  of  the  devotional 
element  than  is  desirable.  We  are  coming  to  have  an  in- 
tellectual and  ethical  Christianity,  with  too  little  Spirit- 
uality and  devoutness.  This  is  as  great  a  mistake  as  it 
would  be  to  undertake  to  build  up  society  and  the  family 
relations  on  intelligence  and  conscience  alone.  People  do 
not  love  one  another  simply  because  it  is  their  conscien- 
tious duty  to  do  so,  nor  because  the  intellect  approves 
affection  as  appropriate,  but  because  there  comes  welling 
up  from  the  fountains  of  friendship,  parental  love,  conjugal 
and  amatory  affection,  an  affluence  of  sympathetic  tender- 
ness, and,  in  spite  of  reason  and  conscience,  these  feelings 
glow  with  a  fervor  that  defies  extinction,  though  suscep- 
tible of  and  requiring  guidance. 

Veneration  is  liable  to  abuse.  When  not  subjected 
to  the  guidance  of  reason  and  conscience,  it  may  produce 
a  blind  bigotry  for  old  customs  and  absurd  institutions,  if 
they  be  only  sanctified  by  time.  It  tends  to  give  rever- 
ence for  great  names  and  authorities  in  religion  and  phi- 
losophy ;  and  this  often  presents  obstacles  to  the  propaga- 


340  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

tion  of  important  truth.  Those  in  whom  this  sentiment  is 
weak  are  generally  ready  to  adopt  new  ideas;  those  in 
whom  it  is  strong,  adhere  to  old  customs  because  they  are 
old.  There  is  some  danger  of  excessive  radicalism  when 
moderate  Veneration  leads  men  to  ignore  the  line  of  "  safe 
precedents."  The  most  religious  people  in  the  world, 
those  most  sincerely  pious,  have  always  been  slowest 
to  adopt  scientific  discoveries  as  true.  Astronomy  was 
ignored  by  the  priests,  and  its  advocates  were  condemned 
to  suffer.  Geology,  Phrenology,  and  even  many  of  the 
important  mechanical  inventions  which  bless  the  world, 
have  been  held  at  a  distance  by  sincerely  religious  people 
for  fear  that  they  would  unsettle  the  foundation  of  the 
world's  faith.  On  the  other  hand,  persons  nearly  devoid 
of  Veneration  are  liable  to  go  to  the  other  extreme,  and 
adopt  new  notions  without  sufficient  investigation.  Lack- 
ing the  conservative  element  which  Veneration  would 
give,  they  feel  at  liberty  to  adopt  anything  which  seems 
to  be  true  and  useful,  though  it  may  prove  fallacious.  Ex- 
cessive Veneration,  without  a  very  active  and  well-trained 
intellect,  will  surely  lead  to  superstition  and  a  blind  big- 
otry for  whatever  is  old,  without  much  regard  for  merit ; 
while  an  acute  and  powerful  intellect,  with  moderate  Ven- 
eration, will  lead  to  the  deifying  of  philosophy,  and  the 
ridicule  of  whatever  is  religiously  sentimental.  We  say 
to  our  countrymen,  cultivate  Veneration  in  the  children, 
well  assured  that  we  shall  not  live  to  see  the  day  when  it 
will  be  necessary  to  say  to  parents,  "  Hold,  enough  !  " 


THE  INTELLECT.  341 

INTELLECTUAL     CULTURE. 

INTELLECTUALLY  considered,  there  are  two  classes  of 
minds.  In  one,  the  reasoning  organs  take  the  lead  ;  in  the 
other,  the  perceptive  organs  predominate.  The  intellectual 
organs  are  located  in  the  forehead,  which,  when  large,  give 
a  prominent  and  massive  development. 

For  every  quality  of  matter  man  has  a  correspond- 
ing mental  faculty.  Individuality  takes  cognizance  of 
things  as  mere  existences  without  reference  to  bulk,  shape, 
density,  color,  number,  order,  or  place.  It  appreciates 
the  divisibility  of  matter.  Form  judges  of  shape;  Size, 
of  extension  or  bulk ;  Weight,  of  density  or  ponderability ; 
Color,  of  hue;  Order,  of  arrangement ;  Calculation,  of 
number  ;  Locality,  of  place  or  direction;  Tune,  of  sound  ; 
Time,  of  duration;  and  Eventuality  relates  to  scenes, 
facts,  or  transactions.  These  give  practical  talent,  and 
gather  data  for  the  use  of  the  reasoning  faculties. 

The  perceptive  organs  are  located  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  forehead,  and  impart  to  it  sometimes  a  retreating 
appearance,  especially  if  the  organs  of  perception  are  much 
larger  than  the  organs  of  reflection,  which  are  located  at 
the  upper  part  of  the  forehead.  The  size  of  these  organs 
must  not  be  measured  by  the  relative  prominence  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  forehead,  because  that  prominence  and 
the  retreating  appearance  may  be  caused  by  a  deficiency 
in  the  upper  portion  rather  than  by  an  excess  in  the  lovvei 
portion  of  the  forehead.  The  length  from  the  opening  of 
the  ear  forward  is  an  approximate  indication  of  the  size 
of  these  organs.  Some  people  have  a  short  forehead,  but 
it  Ix'ing  perpendicular  and  high,  it  is  supposed  to  show  a 
good  intellect,  when,  in  fact,  the  anterior  lobes  of  the 
brain,  in  which  the  intellectual  organs  are  situated,  are 
short  and  comparatively  small.  A  retreating  forehead, 
therefore,  may  indicate  a  full  share  of  the  reasoning  intel- 


342  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

lect,  and  a  very  strong  development  of  the  perceptive 
department  of  the  mind.  Observers  should  always  note 
the  length  of  the  head  from  the  opening  of  the  ears  for- 
ward, before  they  begin  to  study  the  shape  of  the  forehead. 

Individuality,  the  first  organ  of  the  perceptive  intellect, 
is  located  just  above  the  root  of  the  nose,  and  gives  a 
recognition  of  things  and  of  the  special  points  and  facts 
of  a  subject.  The  old  name — "Attention" — is  well  sus- 
tained by  this  faculty.  Quickness  of  observation  is  an 
element  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  which  is  very 
important ;  but  this  faculty  has  to  do  with  the  existence 
and  not  with  the  qualities  of  things;  it  recognizes  things 
merely  as  things.  The  organs  located  outward  from  In- 
dividuality are,  Form,  Size,  Weight,  Color,  Order,  and 
Calculation.  Things  have  form  or  shape,  and  those  who 
are  broad  between  the  eyes  have  a  good  development 
of  the  organ  of  Form.  They  remember  faces,  forms,  out- 
lines, could  be  skillful  at  drawing,  cutting,  modeling,  and 
forging*  Artists  and  mechanics  require  this  in  ample  de- 
velopment. Things  have  not  only  existence  and  form,  but 
they  have  magnitude  or  extension,  and  the  faculty  of 
Size  relates  to  this  quality  of  matter.  Some  are  good 
judges  of  the  weight  of  things,  the  quality  of  which  is 
known.  The  butcher  is  a  judge  of  the  weight  of  oxen  by 
their  size ;  horse  dealers  of  the  size  and  weight  of  horses. 
Men  who  buy  articles  estimating  value  by  bulk  require 
the  organ  of  Size  largely  developed.  Persons  who  work 
by  the  eye,  as  blacksmiths,  turners,  modelers — in  fact, 
nearly  everybody  who  works  through  mechanism — require 
a  quick  eye  for  distance  and  magnitude.  This  faculty  can 
be  much  improved  by  use  or  practice. 

Everything  that  has  substance,  form,  and  size  must 
have  weight.  The  faculty  of  Weight  adapts  us  to  this 
law  of  nature.  Objects  are  attracted  by  the  earth,  accord- 
ing to  the  mass  of  matter  they  contain.  Man  related  to 


THE  INTELLECT.  343 

the  earth  by  gravitation  is  adapted  to  this  condition  by 
this  faculty  of  Weight.  Some  men  balance  well,  they 
walk  with  ease  and  grace,  they  can  ride  on  horseback, 
they  can  walk  on  high  places  without  giddiness ;  but  if 
the  faculty  of  Weight  be  weak,  they  can  neither  balance 
themselves  well,  nor  balance  on  horseback,  nor  climb  with 
safety  and  success.  All  should  cultivate  this  by  balancing, 
walking  on  narrow  timbers,  by  lifting  objects  and  then 
weighing  them,  horseback  riding,  dancing,  etc. 

Color  is  another  inherent  quality  of  matter  which  en- 
ables us  to  distinguish  things  from  each  other  which  may 
be  alike  in  form,  size,  and  weight.  Some  people  can  not 
tell  red  from  green  ;  we  have  met  a  score  of  them.  Color 
bears  the  same  relation  to  sight  that  music  does  to  the 
sense  of  hearing.  To  hear  does  not  presuppose  talent  to 
j  udge  of  the  quality  of  sounds  musically  considered.  Noise 
and  music  are  not  necessarily  the  same,  though  music  is 
noise.  Light  and  shade  are  recognized  by  vision,  but  the 
quality  of  color  is  something  besides  mere  light  and  shade, 
as  music  is  something  besides  mere  noise. 

Order  gives  the  appreciation  of  method  and  system,  and 
Calculation  gives  the  idea  of  numbers. 

In  the  middle  of  the  forehead,  above  Individuality,  the 
organ  of  Eventuality  is  located.  While  Individuality  rec- 
ognizes the  substantive  quality  of  things,  and  the  other 
perceptives  the  adjective  qualities,  Eventuality  takes  into 
consideration  action,  or  the  verb  element.  Individuality 
recognizes  the  horse,  and  there  stops ;  Form  perceives  the 
peculiar  shape ;  Size,  the  magnitude ;  Color,  whether  it  be 
bay,  sorrel,  or  black.  Eventuality  recognizes  the  motion  of 
the  animal,  what  it  does,  and  takes  into  account  the  action 
of  all  the  other  mental  faculties  and  dispositions  as  a  fact 
or  transaction.  It  is  the  faculty  for  stories  and  history. 

Locality,  outward  from  Eventuality,  judges  of  directions, 
local  position,  and  lies  at  the  basis  of  the  study  of  geog- 


344  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

raphy.  All  these  organs  should  be  amply  and  equally  de- 
veloped, and  well  trained.  The  merchant  requires  the 
perceptive  organs,  because  the  qualities  of  the  things  in 
which  he  deals  must  be  judged  of  and  recognized  by  these 
faculties.  The  scholar  should  have  these  organs  large,  in 
order  to  give  him  ability  to  estimate  the  qualities  of  mat- 
ter, the  elements  of  science,  as  in  chemistry,  physiology, 
mathematics,  geography,  and  physics  generally. 

The  upper  part  of  the  forehead  is  the  location  of  the 
reasoning  organs,  in  the  center  of  which  the  organ  called 
Comparison  is  situated,  that  enables  us  to  reason  by  anal- 
ogy, to  see  the  relation  which  one  thing  bears  to  another 
and  is  the  basis  of  analytical  judgment.  It  is  the  founda- 
tion of  all  proverbs,  fables,  and  illustrations.  Those  who 
in  conversation,  in  writing,  and  speaking  use  similes  and 
figures  of  speech,  have  large  Comparison. 

Causality  is  located  on  the  upper  and  outer  corners  of 
the  forehead,  and  sometimes  presents  a  very  square  and 
bulging  appearance.  It  enables  us  to  reason  from  first 
principles,  to  understand  the  why  and  wherefore,  and  to 
take  logical  views  of  subjects.  A  person  with  a  high, 
square  forehead,  with  large  Causality,  and  not  very  large 
Comparison,  and  rather  moderate  perceptives,  is  one  of  the 
dry,  logical,  abstract  thinkers  that  rarely  makes  an  argu- 
ment or  statement  so  plain  that  common  people  can  under- 
stand it,  while  one  with  large  perceptives  and  a  full  share 
of  Eventuality  will  use  his  Causality  and  Comparison  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  every  subject  glow  with  apparent 
truthfulness  and  clearness.  Such  men  are  "  apt  to  teach," 
bringing  in  things  both  new  and  old  to  illustrate  the  logic 
of  the  subject,  and  to  make  it  stand  out  with  a  vividness 
which  defies  incredulity.  Common  sense,  as  it  is  called, 
comes  from  a  harmonious  combination  of  the  various  intel- 
lectual faculties,  and  such  a  state  of  the  feelings,  the  senti- 
ments, and  propensities  as  shall  not  warp  the  judgment. 


OBDEB.  345 

With  large  perceptives  one  is  quick,  practical,  off-hand,  and 
perhaps  shallow  as  to  strength  of  thought ;  while  one  who 
has  very  large  reasoning  organs  may  be  dumb  and  dull  and 
blind  in  regard  to  common  things.  He  can  solve  an  ab- 
stract problem,  and  reason  deeply  on  some  abstruse  ques- 
tion, but  he  has  not  common  sense  enough  to  get  a  living. 
All  these  faculties  can  be  cultivated,  trained  to  greater 
strength  and  activity  than  belongs  to  them  naturally — 
more  especially  if  they  are  medium  in  strength — and  the 
way  to  develop  them  is  to  use  them.  We  exercise  muscle 
if  we  would  cultivate  muscle.  We  breathe  deeply  of  pure 
air  and  thereby  enlarge  the  lungs.  The  eye  as  well  as  the 
hand  can  be  trained,  and  every  faculty  of  mind  may  be 
not  only  trained  by  exercise  individually,  but  also  by  being 
exercised  in  combination  with  others.  Indeed,  the  whole 
mind  ought  to  be  so  trained  to  act  in  harmonious  relation- 
ship, faculty  with  faculty,  and  every  faculty  separately 
and  in  combination,  in  conjunction  with  the  feelings,  that 
the  mind  shall  act  automatically,  without  reflection,  with- 
out conscious  planning  and  determining.  He  is  best  edu- 
cated who  has  learned  how  to  use  with  facility  and  effect 
every  faculty  of  his  mind  and  all  the  powers  of  his  body. 

ORDER. 

Few  persons  consider  the  importance  of  this  faculty,  yet 
most  persons  have  enough  of  the  organ  of  Order  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  its  workings.  When  we  stop  to  think  how 
Order  is  interblended  with  the  creation,  and  how  much  we 
really  depend  upon  the  fixed  chain  of  things,  it  would 
almost  seem  as  if  Order  were  not  only  "heaven's  first 
law,"  but  its  greatest  law.  In  nature,  system,  method, 
and  uniformity  have  existence.  We  feel  conscious  of  that 
element  in  ourselves,  and  we  are  sometimes  surprised  that 
man  in  his  administration  of  affairs  does  not  more  strictly 
conform  in  his  arrangement  to  this  great  natural  law. 


346  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

Not  only  do  the  seasons  come  and  go  in  their  order,  and 
the  whole  planetary  system  revolve  according  to  the  insti- 
tuted adjustment  of  path  and  time,  but  everything  con- 
nected with  the  growth  and  decay  of  plants,  the  develop- 
ment and  characteristics  of  animals,  are  governed  by  sys- 
tem, rule,  order.  Every  kind  of  fruit  follows  a  given  law 
of  its  nature.  And  though  the  characteristics  of  straw- 
berry, cherry,  peach,  plum,  apple,  and  currant  are  pecu- 
liar, yet  we  are  inclined  every  year  to  rely  upon  similar 
recurrences  in  regard  to  each,  forever.  True,  each  kind 
of  fruit  can  be  improved,  but  this  is  done  according  to  the 
philosophy  of  its  nature.  We  never  look  for  potatoes  on 
corn-stalks,  nor  for  ears  of  corn  to  grow  on  trees,  or  in  the 
ground.  "  We  never  gather  grapes  from  thorns,  nor  figs 
from  thistles ; "  and  even  the  silly  hen,  when  she  has  been 
cheated  into  sitting  on  ducks'  eggs,  is  terrified  when  her 
duckling  chicks  rush  into  the  water  for  the  first  time.  As 
she  has  no  means  of  expressing  her  surprise  at  the  extraor* 
dinary  physiognomy  of  her  brood,  or  at  the  singular  feet 
with  which  they  are  endowed,  we  are  left  in  darkness  as 
to  her  views  of  those  aspects  of  the  subject.  If  man  could 
not  trust  this  law  of  method  and  uniformity,  he  would  be 
entirely  afloat.  It  is  natural  to  have  a  place  for  things, 
and  things  in  their  places.  It  is  so  in  nature — it  should 
be  so  in  all  human  affairs. 

There  are  two  or  three  aspects  in  which  the  faculty  of 
Order  is  evinced ;  one  is  in  having  things  always  in  partic* 
ular  places,  and  in  having  a  uniform  method  of  doing 
things.  Another  aspect  of  Order  has  to  do  with  the  best 
rule  for  doing  things.  We  know  persons  who  have  the 
first  kind  of  order;  each  thing  belonging  to  them  has  its 
fixed  place,  and  there  it  can  always  be  found  when  not  in 
use ;  but  the  appropriateness  of  the  place  where  their  things 
are  kept  is  liable  to  question  and  criticism.  One  old  lady 
had  her  tea-kettle  stand  before  the  right  andiron  of  the 


ORDER,  347 

fireplace.  When  it  was  not  being  boiled  over  the  fire,  it 
was  always  standing  in  that  particular  place.  From  the 
time  she  commenced  housekeeping  until  her  life  was  closed, 
namely  sixty  years,  it  was  never  known  to  be  elsewhere. 
A  just  sense  of  tidiness  and  propriety  would  have  sug- 
gested a  different  place  for  the  tea-kettle.  We  knew  ivn 
old  farmer  who  always  kept  his  saddle  hanging  up  in  the 
kitchen  and  his  axe  behind  the  head  of  his  bed ;  no  one 
ever  doubted  where  these  articles  could  be  found,  day  or 
night,  yet  every  one  doubted  the  taste  and  appropriateness 
of  their  location.  We  remember  when  all  the  pewter-ware 
of  a  household  would  be  kept  standing  on  what  was  called 
the  "  dresser,"  or  the  kitchen  cupboard,  flaming  in  all  its 
brightness.  In  modern  times  dishes  are  kept  in  closets, 
concealed  from  light,  dust,  and  observation. 

Some  persons,  in  their  style  of  dress,  pile  on  various  in- 
congruous things  without  regard  to  order  or  taste.  Some 
persons,  in  their  work,  do  that  first  which  should  be  second 
or  third,  and  lack  method  in  all  their  plans,  so  that  they 
fail  to  secure  celerity  and  success  in  the  transaction  of 
their  affairs.  Some  mechanics  have  everything  mixed  up; 
they  have  finished  and  unfinished  work,  raw  materials, 
patterns,  tools,  chips,  all  mixed  and  confounded.  Such 
men  have  their  bench  full  of  tools,  and  find  with  difficulty 
the  one  they  wish  to  use,  and  are  vexed  perpetually  with 
their  work  on  account  of  the  confusion.  Another  man  has 
a  rack  in  which  his  tools  are  kept,  and  when  any  tool  is 
used  it  is  returned  to  its  proper  place.  He  loses  no  time 
in  hunting  for  his  tools ;  they  are  not  injured  by  contact 
with  other  things,  and  he  has  no  chafing  of  temper  in  con- 
.sequence  of  delay,  disappointment,  and  suspense  in  hunting 
for  them.  In  his  plans,  he  does  that  first  which  ought 
first  to  be  done,  and  each  department  or  process  follows  in 
its  regular  order — as  in  nature  we  have  "first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  after  that  the1  full  corn  in  the  ear." 


348  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

A  man  in  whom  Order  is  large,  though  he  has  a  factory- 
full  of  machinery  and  material,  will  be  able  to  go  into  the 
mill  in  the  dark,  and  without  running  against  machinery 
find  anything  he  desires,  because  each  thing  has  a  particu- 
lar place,  and  he  knows  where  it  is  and  where  to  feel  for  it. 

A  housekeeper  in  whom  Order  is  large,  will  have  a  par- 
ticular place  for  each  thing  in  the  whole  house,  and  she 
would  be  as  much  surprised  to  find  the  dinner  plates  on 
the  fourth  shelf  of  the  pantry  when  they  belonged  on  the 
second,  as  she  would  to  find  the  gridiron  in  the  parlor,  or 
that  the  apples  in  the  cellar  had  changed  places  with  the 
potatoes  during  the  night ;  that  the  coal  had  changed  from 
one  bin  to  another,  or  that  the  dining-table  and  piano  had 
changed  places.  An  orderly  person  will  lay  off  his  clothes 
at  night  in  a  particular  way  so  that  he  can  dress  himself 
in  the  dark,  if  need  be  ;  he  will  have  his  clothes  in  a  trunk, 
closet,  or  drawer  so  arranged  that  each  keeps  its  uniform 
place.  And  if  he  does  not  find  stockings,  handkerchiefs, 
shirts,  or  cravats  where  they  belong,  he  will  not  look  iii 
another  drawer  but  inquire  for  them  at  headquarters. 

Much  is  said  against  "  red  tape,"  but  the  formalities  thus 
found  fault  with  are  a  product  of  order,  rule,  method ;  and 
though  it  may  seem  in  the  way  at  times  of  emergency  and 
necessity,  on  the  whole  such  method  is  a  safeguard  against 
abuses,  and  is  highly  essential  to  the  public  service.  If 
a  school  of  a  hundred  boys  be  dismissed  at  a  word, 
each  one  being  in  a  hurry  to  get  out  of  the  room,  there 
will  be  such  crowding  and  confusion  as  to  require  much 
longer  time  to  clear  the  room  than  it  would  to  dismiss 
the  school  class  by  class  and  let  them  file  out  like  sol- 
diers, and  how  much  more  graceful  and  elegant  is  the 
latter  process  !  Nature  established  the  law  of  order,  and 
we  can  not,  if  we  would,  abrogate  that  law  in  relation  to 
our  own  purposes  without  serious  detriment  to  interest  and 
convenience. 


LOCALITY.  349 

Let  this  faculty  be  cultivated  in  children ;  let  the  little 
three-year-old  child  have  something  to  do,  have  a  place 
for  its  playthings,  its  shoes,  and  other  clothing,  and  be  re- 
quired to  recognize  this  law  of  arrangement.  If  the  child 
may  throw  down  its  playthings  at  will  and  have  them 
picked  up  by  nurse  or  servant,  it  will  become  a  slattern. 
But  if  the  child  have  a  basket  or  box  in  which  to  place 
everything  when  not  in  use,  this  faculty  will  become  auto- 
matic in  action  and  necessary  to  comfort  and  convenience. 
The  sloven  is  always  hindered  and  fretted  from  his  dis- 
order and  want  of  arrangement,  and  though  neat  people 
sometimes  fret  and  scold  when  disorder  is  practiced  by 
others,  the  kind  and  amount  of  pleasure  such  persons  ex- 
perience from  neatness  and  method  will  probably  more 
than  counterbalance  these  disturbances. 

The  parent  or  teacher  does  the  child  or  pupil  a  wrong 
who  neglects  the  training  of  this  important  organ,  and 
that  training  can  be  done  as  easily  as  any  other.  It  is  not 
enough  to  inveigh  against  persons  for  disorder.  Scolding 
does  not  teach  method.  It  may  irritate  the  disposition, 
but  will  not  produce  neatness  and  order.  Kindness  and 
good  example  will  do  the  work. 

LOCALITY. 

The  faculty  of  Locality,  or,  perhaps,  more  properly  de- 
nominated Local  Memory,  or  Memory  of  Locations,  is 
situated  on  each  side  of  the  center  of  the  forehead,  outward 
and  slightly  below  the  organ  of  Eventuality.  It  is  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  upward  and  outward  from  the  root 
of  the  nose,  and,  when  large,  gives  prominence  to  that 
part  of  the  forehead.  Its  office  is  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
relative  position  of  places. 

Since  no  two  things  can  occupy  the  same  space  at  the 
same  time,  everything  must,  in  respect  to  one's  self,  be 
located  above,  below,  or  in  some  direction  outwardly. 


350  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

Let  the  reader  suppose  himself  to  be  investigating  the 
nature  of  this  faculty.  Think  of  any  object — the  church 
where  you  worship,  the  place  of  your  nativity,  the  capital 
of  your  State,  your  nearest  market-town,  your  post-office ; 
each  of  these  places  has  its  own  locality ;  and  if  you  can 
conceive  correctly  the  location  of  each  place  as  it  respects 
yourself  and  of  each  place  in  respect  to  all  other  places, 
that  conception  originates  in  the  faculty  under  considera- 
tion. Now,  suppose  you  change  your  location  in  any  direc- 
tion, then  stop  and  think  where  all  these  places  are  relative 
to  yourself,  what  is  the  direction  then  to  the  capital  of  your 
State,  your  native  place,  your  post-office  ?  All  the  direc- 
tions will  have  been  changed.  For  instance,  common  sense 
or  general  intellect  might  understand  that  from  the  house 
or  home  of  the  person  certain  things  were  located  north- 
ward, eastward,  southward ;  but  if  that  person  were  moved 
away  from  the  accustomed  place,  he  would  find  it  impos- 
sible, without  an  active  condition  of  Locality,  to  estimate 
correctly  the  new  directions  which  all  the  places  by  his 
moving  had  assumed.  Let  a  man  reside  in  Albany;  he 
thinks  of  Boston  as  east,  Buffalo  as  west,  New  York  as 
south.  Let  him  go  to  Philadelphia,  and  instantly  he  must 
conceive  Boston  to  be  northeast,  and  New  York  nearly  on 
a  line  in  the  same  direction,  while  Buffalo  would  be  west 
of  north  and  Albany  east  of  north ;  in  a  single  day's  jour- 
ney, the  relative  direction  of  all  these  places  would  be 
changed.  Persons  accustomed  to  traveling  will  recall  the 
fact,  that  at  the  close  of  each  day's  journey  they  are 
obliged  to  think  of  all  places  of  interest  as  being  in  direc- 
tions different  from  what  they  were  in  the  morning.  With 
these  hints  the  reader  can  extend  the  idea  and  apply  it  in 
a  thousand  ways.  The  whole  system  of  geography  is 
based  on  this  faculty,  and  those  pupils  who  have  the  organ 
largest,  succeed  best  in  that  study.  Indeed,  the  study  of 
geography  is  the  proper  method  for  cultivating  the  faculty. 


LOCALITY.  351 

In  our  boyhood,  there  was  a  custom  among  us  of  blind- 
folding an  individual  and  setting  him  to  walk  from  a  cer- 
tain fixed  point  to  some  other ;  and  it  was  amusing  how 
few  could  maintain  the  direction  when  deprived  of  the  use 
of  the  eyesight.  It  is  said  that  when  a  man  is  lost  in  a 
forest  or  prairie,  he  walks  in  a  circle. 

Certain  animals  evince  this  faculty  in  a  high  degree  of 
perfection.  Dogs  may  be  removed  from  on  shipboard  to 
a  strange  country,  and  placed  on  a  track  which  they  will 
follow  all  day,  among  hills,  ravines,  forests,  and  jungles, 
and  when  the  game  is  taken  or  the  chase  abandoned,  they 
will  instantly  lead  off  in  a  straight  line  for  the  place  where 
they  ate  their  breakfast.  It  is  known  to  most  farmers  that 
a  pig  which  never  has  been  out  of  the  sty  may  be  put  into 
an  open-topped  barrel  and  carried  in  a  circuitous  route 
for  miles,  and  without  having  seen  the  ground  be  put  into 
a  similar  sty,  and  if  he  get  his  freedom  he  will  lay  a  bee- 
line  for  the  place  whence  he  came  without  regard  to  roads 
or  bridges,  wallowing  through  clover  fields,  threading 
forests,  and  swimming  rivers,  to  reach  his  old  home.  The 
horse  will  often  find  his  way  when  his  master  is  lost,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  the  horses  of  mail-carriers  who  dis- 
tribute newspapers  along  the  way,  also  the  horses  of  milk- 
men in  the  cities,  learn  every  stopping-place;  and  the 
horses  of  physicians  can  hardly  be  whipped  by  places 
where  patients  have  been  many  times  visited.  Carrier- 
pigeons  evince  a  very  active  state  of  this  faculty.  Before 
the  telegraph  was  invented,  it  was  customary  for  generals, 
navigators,  and  others  to  take  carrier-pigeons  to  the  field 
or  to  sea,  and  when  they  desired  to  send  dispatches  to  the 
government,  to  underwriters,  or  to  lovers,  they  attached 
the  important  missive  to  the  bird,  which  was  then  set  at 
liberty,  and  it  would  fly  with  great  rapidity  and  directness 
to  its  home,  perhaps  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  miles 
away ;  nor  was  it  necessary  to  get  a  permit  for  such  a 


352  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

messenger  to  pass  over  an  enemy's  country.     The  song 
once  so  popular,  "  The  Carrier  Dove,"  beginning — 

"  Fly  away  to  my  native  land,  sweet  bird," 

is  based  on  the  extraordinary  capacity  of  that  bird  for  re- 
membering places  and  direction. 

The  organ  of  Locality  was  perhaps  the  second  one  dis- 
covered by  Dr.  Gall.  He  mentions  that  his  taste  for  nat- 
ural history  led  him  frequently  into  the  woods  to  catch 
birds  or  to  discover  their  nests ;  but  he  generally  found  it 
impossible  to  retrace  his  way  to  the  nest  which  he  had  dis- 
covered, notwithstanding  his  precaution  to  cut  marks  on 
the  trees  and  stick  branches  into  the  ground.  He  was 
obliged,  on  this  account,  to  take  with  him  a  schoolmate, 
who,  with  the  least  possible  effort,  went  directly  to  the 
place  where  a  snare  was  set,  though  they  had  laid  ten  or 
fifteen  snares  in  places  not  familiarly  known  to  them. 
Though  Gall's  friend  cared  nothing  for  birds  or  natural 
history,  and  had  no  interest  in  finding  places  except  to 
oblige  his  friend,  he  remembered  the  places  without  diffi- 
culty, while  Gall,  having  an  urgent  reason  to  revisit  the 
places,  was  not  able  to^do  so.  Gall  afterward  molded  the 
head  of  this  lad,  and  also  that  of  a  celebrated  landscape 
painter  who  had  an  extraordinary  memory  of  place,  and 
found  a  similar  fullness  where  this  organ  is  located.  "We 
meet  many  persons  who  are  fond  of  roving,  who  go  to  sea 
and  suffer  all  the  hardships  and  privations  before  the  mast, 
that  they  may  see  London,  Liverpool,  Gibraltar,  and  other 
places.  "We  examined  the  head  of  a  man  in  whom  Local- 
ity was  extravagantly  developed,  and  he  related  to  us 
that,  being  born  at  the  east  end  of  Lake  Ontario,  he  went 
into  lake  navigation  when  seventeen,  that  he  might  see 
Buffalo,  Niagara  Falls.  Detroit,  Cleveland,  and  Chicago. 
He  had  not  the  means  of  making  this  journey  independ- 
ently of  working  his  way;  "and  now,"  said  he,  "  I  have 


LOCALITY.  353 

enlisted  in  the  army  as  a  private  soldier,  though  I  leave  a 
farm  and  a  wife  and  family  at  home,  that  I  may  see  Balti- 
more, Washington,  New  Orleans,  or  any  other  places 
which,  being  a  soldier,  I  may  be  required  to  visit ;  and  if 
I  live  to  get  back,"  said  he,  "  I  intend  to  go  as  a  sailor, 
that  I  may  see  other  portions  of  the  world."  We  once 
knew  a  man  who  had  never  seen  Niagara  Falls,  though  he 
lived  within  seven  miles  of  it  and  could  hear  the  roar  of 
its  waters  whenever  the  atmosphere  was  clear.  We  knew 
another  man  who  lived  on  Long  Island,  not  fifty  miles  from 
New  York,  who  had  amassed  a  fortune  of  over  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  by  sending  his  various  products  to  the  city ; 
yet  he  never  had  visited  New  York,  and  was  then  seventy 
years  of  age.  The  organ  of  Locality  in  both  these  in- 
stances, with  the  perceptive  organs  generally,  was  small, 
while1  their  Inhabitiveness,  which  gives  a  love  for  a  fixed 
place  of  abode,  was  strong.  Persons  sometimes  possess  in 
a  high  degree  both  Inhabitiveness  and  Locality,  one  inciting 
to  love  of  place,  the  other  a  disposition  to  see  the  world. 
Such  persons  leave  home  with  pleasure,  that  they  may  see 
ne\v  places,  but  return  with  delight,  that  they  may  enjoy 
their  home.  Persons  who  are  very  fond  of  reading  the 
history  of  voyages  and  travels  are  generally  well  endowed 
with  this  faculty.  Such  persons  will  follow  Humboldt, 
Bayard  Taylor,  Doctor  Kane,  or  any  other  explorer  or 
traveler,  witli  the  greatest  interest,  and  read  of  all  their 
wanderings.  To  one  in  whom  this  organ  is  weak,  to  lead 
such  a  fugitive  life  would  be  ^painful.  They  might  read 
descriptions  of  places  with  pleasure,  but  the  account  of 
journeys,  the  making  ready  to  start,  bidding  adieu  to  a 
pleasant  place,  and  struggling  with  strums,  mountains,  and 
other  transit  difficulties,  would  be  annoying  and  painful  to 
them,  even  in  contemplation.  We  remember  examining 
the  head  of  a  lady  thirty  years  ago,  in  Sunderland,  Massa- 
chusetts, who  could  not  remember  the  direction  of  the 


354  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

cardinal  points  nor  her  right  hand  from  her  left,  except 
she  remembered  which  one  she  wore  the  thimble  on ;  and 
the  only  way  she  could  remember  north  was  to  think 
which  way  it  was  said  her  father's  house  faced,  then,  by 
placing  herself  in  imagination  facing  north,  she  had  heard 
that  the  right  hand  or  the  thimble  hand  would  point  to 
the  east,  the  left  hand  to  the  west,  and  that  south  would 
be  behind  her.  Yet  she  was  teaching  the  principal  school 
in  the  village,  and  in  all  other  respects  appeared  to  be 
very  intelligent  and  accomplished.  Her  organ  of  Locality 
was  so  small  that  it  attracted  our  attention,  and  she  related 
these  facts  proving  her  want  of  it. 

The  North  American  Indian  cultivates  this  faculty  by 
his  vagrant  mode  of  life.  He  has  occasionally  a  trail,  but 
no  roads  fenced  in,  no  guide-board  naming  the  place  de- 
sired, with  the  distance,  and  a  hand  pointing  in  that  direc- 
tion. He  wanders  off  five  hundred  miles  through  dense 
forests,  without  a  path  or  a  marked  tree,  in  a  zigzag 
course ;  finds  little  villages  of  tents  nestled  in  the  center  of 
the  trackless  forest — villages  covering,  perhaps,  not  a  hun- 
dred acres,  yet  he  misses  not  one  of  them.  He  remem- 
bers directions  and  distances,  is  a  natural  pioneer,  and  all 
his  perceptive  organs,  including  Locality,  are  large.  4fr\, 

It  is  well  known  that  fish  not  only  have  a  home  for 
spawning,  but  also  a  winter  home,  returning  yearly  to 
their  summer  haunts.  The  little  phoebe  that  built  her  nest 
under  a  bridge  in  the  State  of  Maine,  will  find  a  home  for 
winter  in  Maryland,  or  farther  north.  When  the  spring 
returns,  she  will  find  her  way  back  where  she  built  her 
nest  last  summer.  Doctor  Gall  imagined  that  the  migra- 
tory species  of  birds  had  an  extraordinary  periodical  ac- 
tivity of  the  faculty  of  Locality,  prompting  them  to  go 
they  knew  not  whither. 

The  organ  was  large  in  Columbus,  in  Captain  Cook,  and 
in  all  other  eminent  travelers  and  explorers.  All  who 


LANGUAGE.  355 

have  the  portrait  of  Bayard  Taylor  will  see  the  promi- 
nence there  is  in  his  head  above  and  about  the  root  of  the 
nose.  Successful  players  at  chess,  checkers,  billiards,  ten- 
pins, and  quoits  require  this  organ  large,  together  with 
large  Form,  Size,  and  Weight. 

LANGUAGE. 

By  language  we  mean  the  vocal  expression  of  ideas  and 
emotions.  This  may  be  done  by  articulate  language  or 
by  inarticulate  sounds;  and  there  is  another  method  of 
expressing  ideas,  namely,  by  the  natural  language  of  the 
faculties  through  pantomime  or  action.  Articulate  lan- 
guage is  an  invention.  Inarticulate  speech  is  common  to 
the  human  race.  The  sigh,  the  groan,  the  laugh,  the  sneer 
are  the  same  in  all  nations,  and  instinctively  understood 
by  all,  whatever  their  nationality.  The  babe  in  the  snow- 
hut  of  the  Esquimaux,  the  pampered  child  of  wealth  in 
the  palace  of  European  kings,  the  yellow  babe  in  the  bam- 
boo cot  in  India,  the  ebon  infant  of  Africa,  and  the  child  of 
Brazil  and  Patagonia  utter  their  natural  wants  by  cries  pre- 
cisely alike.  The  sigh  of  sadness,  the  groan  of  pain  sound 
alike  from  the  father  of  each  of  these  children.  The  merry 
laugh  of  joy  is  the  same  with  all.  Music  also  expressed 
vocally  sounds  alike  to  every  tongue  and  kindred  of  men ; 
the  German,  the  Spaniard,  the  Frenchman,  the  Italian,  the 
Greek,  or  the  Russ  may  sing  the  notes  of  Home,  Sweet 
Home,  or  Old  Hundred,  and  no  man  can  tell  that  the  voice 
has  any  nationality.  Out  of  this  natural  language  of  in- 
articulate sounds  and  monosyllables  has  grown  conven- 
tional or  artificial  language.  We  use  the  term  conven- 
tional because  men  in  different  parts  of  the  world  have 
adopted  certain  sounds  for  the  expression  of  particular 
ideas.  We  find,  by  the  common  consent  of  different  na- 
tions, that  different  words  are  employed  to  express  the 


356  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

same  thing.  In  England,  they  say  tree;  in  Germany, 
meaning  the  same  thing,  they  say  baum.  Many  primitive 
words,  rudimental,  radical  in  their  nature,  are  similar 
among  the  various  nations  of  the  world,  however  diverse 
their  language.  Ma,  for  mother,  and  pa,  or  papa,  for 
father,  are  uttered  by  nearly  every  child,  and  there  are  very 
many  other  words  equally  generic  and  common.  These 
monosyllables  are  easily  spoken,  hence  their  universality. 
Even  the  lamb,  the  kid,  and  the  calf  utter  a  cry  similar  to 
ma,  as  spoken  by  the  child. 

The  faculty  under  consideration  has  to  do  with  remem- 
bering sounds,  simple  and  compound,  as  expressive  of  par- 
ticular ideas  and  emotions.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  called 
the  organ  for  names,  since  horse,  mountain,  rock,  tree  are 
names,  and  express  to  us  the  simple  idea  of  these  objects. 
Branching  out  farther,  we  append  to  the  substantive, 
words  which  we  call  adjectives,  and  say  large  man,  strong 
man,  white  man.  These  additional  terms  are  simply 
names  of  qualities  belonging  to  the  man  himself,  so  that 
we  use  words  expressing  peculiarities  of  ideas,  and  those 
who  are  most  gifted  in  the  use  of  adjectives,  and  are  most 
fertile  in  language,  are  those  who  have,  in  addition  to  the 
faculty  of  Language,  the  perceptive  organs  large,  which 
organs  take  cognizance  of  the  peculiar  qualities  of  things. 
If  we  observe  the  likenesses  of  writers  who  are  remarkable 
for  their  descriptive  power,  we  will  find  that  they  are  not 
only  well  endowed  with  the  organ  of  Language,  but  that 
the  lower  and  middle  parts  of  the  forehead  are  generally 
prominent.  Writers,  on  the  other  hand,  remarkable  for 
their  tendency  to  write  on  metaphysics  and  discuss  ab- 
stract questions,  have  the  upper  part  of  the  forehead  amply 
expanded.  In  other  words,  the  ideas  or  emotions  must 
originate  in  the  various  faculties  of  the  mind  and  disposi- 
tion, and  become  an  inspiration  of  speech  or  an  excitant  of 
the  organ  of  Language,  whose  duty  it  is  to  make  these 


LANGUAGE.  357 

ideas  or  emotions  understood  by  means  of  sounds  or  the 
use  of  words. 

The  language  of  courage  and  heroism,  of  course,  is  in- 
spired by  Combativeness,  Destructiveness,  Firmness,  and 
Self-Esteem ;  the  language  of  love,  by  Amativeness,  Friend- 
ship, Conjugality,  and  Parental  Love;  the  language  ot 
patriotism,  by  Inhabitiveness  and  Veneration ;  the  lan- 
guage of  religion,  by  the  moral  group ;  and  the  language 
of  mechanism,  poetry,  property,  and  prudence,  by  the 
organs  in  the  side-head,  and  all  guided  and  modified  by 
the  influence  of  the  intellect. 

The  organ  of  Language  is  located  at  the  base  of  the 
anterior  lobes  of  the  brain,  directly  behind  the  eye-brow, 
upon  the  upper  arch  of  the  eye-socket ;  and  when  it  is 
large,  it  tends  to  press  that  arch  downward,  and  with  it 
the  eye-ball.  The  consequence  is,  the  eye  is  made  to  stand 
forward,  and  press  downward,  indicating  a  swollen  appear- 
ance beneath  the  eye-ball,  as  well  as  a  prominence  of  the 
ball  itself.  AVhat  would  be  called  a  full,  prominent  eye  is 
a  sign  of  a  good  development  of  this  organ.  During  life, 
the  organ  itself  can  not  be  reached,  and  must  be  judged 
of  from  external  appearance  only ;  and  care  should  be 
taken  in  estimating  the  amount  of  the  development  in 
question  by  considering  whether  the  eye-ball  be  really 
large  or  small  in  proportion  to  the  socket  which  invests  it, 
because  sometimes  an  individual  inherits  the  frame  of  one 
pan-iit  and  the  tissues  of  the  other;  that  is  to  say,  a  large 
frame,  and  with  it  a  large  eye-socket,  together  with  light 
muscles,  delicate  tissues,  and,  of  course,  a  small  eye-ball 
with  small  surrounding  investments.  In  such  a  case,  the 
eye  will  not  seem  to  be  protruding  forward  or  downward, 
and  the  individual  will  possess  more  talent  for  expression 
than  would  at  first  be  supposed  by  the  appearance  of  the 
eye.  On  the  other  hand,  some  persons  inherit  from  one 
parent  a  small  frame,  and  from  the  other  parent  supera- 


358  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

bundant  tissues ;  then  the  eye-ball  will  be  large  and  the 
socket  small.  In  such  cases,  we  have  what  is  sometimes 
called  the  "  pop-eye,"  or  the  "  ox-eye,"  without  a  corre- 
sponding manifestation  of  lingual  power. 

There  seem  to  be  two  modes  of  manifestation  of  the 
faculty  of  Language :  in  the  first,  the  eye  seems  pushed 
directly  forward  without  any  depression.  This  indicates 
precision  in  the  use  of  words,  the  tendency  to 'select  just 
the  word,  and  to  use  as  few  words  as  will  express  the 
thought  or  emotion.  In  the  second,  the  eye  is  pushed  far 
down  from  the  brow,  and  the  lower  lid  seems  to  hang  in 
a  swollen  sack  on  the  surface  of  the  face,  giving  volubil- 
ity, wordiness,  even  exuberance.  Charles  Dickens  is  an 
instance  of  this  development  and  its  manifestation.  He 
appears  not  satisfied  with  simply  encompassing  a  subject 
with  words ;  he  hangs  them  in  gorgeous  festoons,  ampli- 
fies and  enlarges  sometimes,  we  think,  to  excess.  Another 
will  select  with  care  and  compact  with  precision  his  words, 
so  as  simply  to  form  a  chain  of  expression  to  compass  the 
idea.  The  Dickens'  style  is  like  covering  a  wine  cask 
from  bung  to  chime  with  wooden  hoops,  each  of  which 
goes  around  the  barrel  and  laps  half  a  yard;  the  other 
style  is  like  putting  six  iron  hoops  on  the  cask,  the  ends 
of  which  lap  an  inch,  just  enough  to  take  a  rivet. 

Perhaps  no  other  faculty  is  more  susceptible  of  extended 
cultivation  than  this.  Every  man  who  feels  in  himself  a 
lack  of  conversational  power  should  set  about  cultivating 
the  faculty  by  using  it.  Reading  aloud  is  an  excellent 
way ;  writing  serves  tolerably  well,  but  outspoken  speech 
is  that  which  gives  most  natural  action  to  the  faculty. 

Some  nations  are  better  talkers  than  others.  Africans 
are  very  sociable,  talk  much,  and,  if  they  have  opportu- 
nity to  learn,  they  talk  well.  In  them  the  organ  of  Lan- 
guage is  large,  and  their  eyes  are  proverbially  full.  The 
reverse,  in  habit  and  development,  is  true  of  the  American 


GIRLS — THEIR  TRAINING.  359 

Indian.  Children  should  be  early  taught  to  use  good  lan- 
guage, and  not  snubbed,  when  they  are  trying  to  express 
their  thoughts,  with  the  statement  that  they  have  "  two 
ears  and  but  one  tongue,  and,  therefore,  should  hear  much 
and  speak  little."  Persons  who  train  up  their  children  in 
that  way  generally  feel  embarrassed  when  their  girls  and 
boys  of  seventeen  can  not  pass  the  compliments  of  the  day 
without  blushing  and  embarrassment.  In  school,  children 
should  be  encouraged  to  write  familiar  letters  to  their 
friends,  as  compositions,  not  try  to  write  an  essay  on  some 
abstruse  question  with  which  they  have  no  acquaintance ; 
in  this  way  they  could ,  learn  an  easy,  colloquial  style  of 
writing,  and  would  find  such  training  serviceable  to  them 
all  their  lives. 


TRAINING    OF    GIRLS. 

"I  have  finished  my  education,"  has  been  said  by  many 
a  young  lady  fresh  from  the  boarding-school;  and,  indeed, 
so  restricted  were  the  ideas  of  an  education  which  had 
been  impressed  on  her  mind,  that  she  felt  contented  with 
the  culture  she  had  acquired,  and  she  put  forth  efforts  for 
no  more — satisfied  to  hang  up  her  framed  diploma  in  a 
safe  yet  conspicuous  place,  and  to  use  the  smattering  of 
learning  which  her  brief  years  and  superficial  instruction 
had  afforded.  One  might  as  well  expect  to  raise  giant 
oaks  or  imperial  cedars  in  flower-pots  as  to  look  for  great 
and  noble  lives  with  such  stinted  notions  of  education. 

THE    SEXES    BLENDED 

If  the  education  of  woman  were  not  constrained  and 
artificial,  she  would  stand  forth  in  all  the  plenitude  of  her 
rights  individualized,  not  isolated  or  independent,  as  some 
modern  advocates  of  "woman's  rights"  have  unwisely 
taught,  nor  a  mere  cipher,  silent  drudge,  or  slave  of  her 


360  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

supercilious  lord;  but,  like  one  of  the  strings  of  a  well- 
tune  i  harp,  a  prime  necessity  of  social  harmony.  Chris- 
tianity was  the  dawn  of  woman's  emancipation  from  that 
mute  serfdom  imposed  on  her  by  pagan  ages;  and  now 
under  the  best  culture  which  the  best  civilization  has 
awarded  her,  she  does  not  occupy,  comprehensively,  in  any 
community,  a  position  equal  to  the  talents  and  moral 
forces  with  which  the  Creator  has  endowed  her.  No  the- 
ory, no  training  can  educate  the  masculine  and  feminine 
minds  to  occupy  the  same  plane  or  to  flow  in  precisely  the 
same  channel,  nor  would  it  be  desirable  if  it  were  possible. 
The  duties  as  well  as  the  tastes  of  the  sexes  are  not  iden- 
tical ;  but  if  properly  developed,  the  difference  which  na- 
ture has  implanted  will  produce  harmony,  as  the  bass  and 
treble  strings  of  an  instrument  enrich  the  music  by  com- 
bination, each  freely  contributing  all  it  can  to  the  common 
stock,  and  enhancing  the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity 
of  sound. 

MASCULINE    WOMEN. 

The  few  women  who  persist  in  the  study  of  logic  and 
mathematics  are  those  whose  inheritance  of  masculine 
qualities  leads  them  to  break  away  from  the  more  feminine 
channels,  and  to  bear  these  acquirements  in  a  manner  bold, 
and,  perhaps,  offensive  to  man's  self-love.  Hence  he  usu- 
ally regards  a  "  strong-minded  woman "  with  aversion. 
Only  the  daring  animal  leaps  the  inclosure  that  still  re- 
tains the  common  herd ;  and  we  should  not  be  surprised 
if  those  women  who  have  the  courage  and  the  inherent 
strength  do  defy  custom  and  scale  the  impediments  of 
usage,  should  use  their  liberty  in  an  extravagant  manner. 
As  woman  is  now  generally  educated,  her  freedom  and 
her  career  resemble  far  more  the  dead  level  of  a  canal — 
the  monotony  of  which  is  relieved  only  by  well-adjusted 
and  carefully-guarded  locks  —  than  the  sweeping  river 
that  flows  freely  along  its  wooded  shores  or  flowery  banks, 


GriKLS— TJIEIR  TRAINING.  361 

roaring  at  will  over  cascades  at  the  mountain's  base,  danc- 
ing onward  in  the  sunlight,  or  reposing  in  beauty  under 
the  placid  beams  of  the  harvest  moon. 

GIRLHOOD    RESTRAINTS. 

First,  then,  the  body  needs  education,  for  the  lack  of 
which  physical  and  mental  ills  innumerable  exist.  We 
shall  not  now  stop  to  discuss,  at  length,  the  laws  of  bodily 
nutrition,  but  simply  remark  that  highly-seasoned  food, 
with  tea  and  coffee,  are  doing  destructive  work  on  the 
health  of  woman.  It  is  no  small  item  to  regulate  the  ap- 
petite and  dietetic  habits  of  the  young,  in  order  that  the 
highest  degree  of  health  may  be  secured ;  and  that  dys- 
pepsia from  the  use  of  stimulating  and  concentrated  food, 
and  shattered  nerves  from  the  effects  of  narcotics,  may  be 
avoided.  We  call  attention  to  another  and  much  neg- 
lected branch  of  female  education  necessary  to  physical 
development,  including  air,  exercise,  and  pleasant  and  use- 
ful employment.  Why  is  it  that  our  young  girls  are  as 
nimble  of  foot,  as  ample  in  breath,  as  capable  of  enduring 
fatigue,  and  as  fond  of  romping  over  hill  and  plain  as  boys 
of  equal  age,  if  nature  has  made  such  vast  differences  in 
their  physical  capacities  and  taste  for  such  exercises  as  we 
see  so  firmly  established  a  few  years  later  in  life  ?  Except 
in  the  wildest  of  rural  districts,  girls  are  trained  from  the 
cradle  to  remember  that  they  are  "girls"  They  must 
walk,  sit,  speak,  laugh,  and  live  in  a  particular  way,  not 
because  they  are  immortal,  responsible  human  beings,  but 
because  they  are  girls.  Thus  all  naturalness  and  freedom 
are  driven  out  of  them  by  this  interminable  reminder  of 
their  girlhood.  In  present  fashionable  society,  a  girl,  as 
she  approaches  womanhood,  is  expected  to  lay  aside  all 
vigorous  physical  effort ;  to  walk  in  a  restrained,  mincing 
manner,  with  arms  and  hands  motionless;  to  dress  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  cramp  the  lungs  and  other  vital  organs, 

16 


362  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

and  to  restrain  the  free  action  of  the  muscles  of  the  entire 
trunk.  She  is  expected  to  avoid  everything  in  the  way  of 
industry  that  can  by  any  possibility  harden  the  hands  or 
develop  the  muscles,  or  send  the  blood  bounding  with  a 
healthful  vigor  through  the  system.  Add  to  this,  con- 
firmed sedentary  habits,  delicate  needlework,  reading  ex- 
citing books,  and  keeping  late  hours,  and  if  we  see  them 
with  small  waists,  narrow  chests,  attenuated  muscles,  pale 
cheeks,  colorless  lips,  sharp  faces,  nervous  irritability,  head- 
ache, dyspepsia,  and  consumption,  it  is  only  what  might  be 
expected  from  such  an  erroneous  system  of  training  and 
education.  To  the  physiologist  it  would  appear  miracu- 
lous if  it  were  otherwise.  How  different  is  this  e very-day 
picture  from  that  of  their  earlier  years,  when  fashion  did 
not  deem  it  necessary  to  mar  nature's  work  by  such  arti- 
ficial habits  and  appliances ! 

The  little  girl  driving  her  hoop,  or  jumping  the  rope  in 
the  open  air,  or  rambling  for  flowers  or  berries  on  the 
rugged  hillside,  without  dreaming  of  fashion  or  restrictive 
propriety,  is  such  a  contrast  in  appearance,  as  well  as  in 
health  and  stamina,  to  the  fashion-bleached  lady,  which  by 
false  education  she  is  destined  in  due  time  to  become,  that 
nature,  though  charmed  by  the  child,  would  disown  the 
woman. 

CAUSES    OF    INVALID    WOMEN. 

The  public  sentiment  is,  we  think,  grossly  at  fault  on 
the  subject  of  the  physical  education  of  females.  The  false 
idea  that  they  must  be  shut  up  in  heated  apartments  badly 
ventilated,  reclining  on  sofas  or  lounging  in  easy-chairs; 
that  they  must  do  nothing  but  fancy-work,  and  never  walk 
vigorously  in  the  bracing  breezes ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
to  be  respectable  and  fashionable,  they  must  dress  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  restrain  all  freedom  of  motion,  and  thereby 
lose  all  the  natural  advantages  of  exercise  ;  that  they  may 
attend  balls  and  parties  in  mid-winter  with  arms  and  necks 


ENGLISH  WOMEN.  363 

bare,  and  after  dancing  in  heated  rooms  till  near  morning 
are  permitted  to  go  forth  in  the  frosty  air  to  their  homes, 
to  obtain,  in  cold  rooms,  such  fevered  and  untimely  sleep 
as  may  be  possible.  With  habits  such  as  these,  can  we 
wonder  that  we  have  a  nation  of  invalid  women  ?  If  this 
is  a  picture  of  the  life  of  the  wealthy  and  fashionable,  there 
are,  on  the  other  hand,  thousands  of  the  poor  who  toil 
with  the  needle  sixteen  hours  a  day  in  small  rooms,  merely 
to  sustain  life,  who  have  been  so  educated  by  public  senti- 
ment as  to  deem  it  a  disgrace  to  pursue,  instead,  the 
healthful  avocation  of  housework. 

In  this  country  sound  health  is  the  exception  among 
women,  unsoundriess  the  rule.  In  England,  health  is  the 
rule,  as  all  know  who  have  visited  that  country,  and  as  all 
may  infer  who  will  observe  the  immigrants  from  her 
shores — not  the  laboring  classes  merely,  but  the  wealthy, 
the  educated,  and  the  refined.  They  have  red  cheeks,  full 
chests,  stout  muscles,  energy  of  action,  fine  health,  and  a 
good  appetite.  The  reason  is,  they  exercise  much  in  the 
open  air,  and  dress  in  a  manner  adapted  to  that  exercise. 
An  English  woman  of  education  and  refinement  thinks 
nothing  of  walking  six  miles,  or  of  riding  on  horseback 
twenty.  A  celebrated  American  journalist  (N.  P.  Willis), 
writing  of  the  habits  of  the  women  of  England,  remarked: 

"  I  remember  once  being  at  William  and  Mary  Howitt's, 
when  some  one  proposed  that  we  should  make  a  little 
family  visit  to  Epping  Forest,  distant  some  four  or  five 
miles.  The  thought  never  entered  my  head  that  they 
proposed  going  on  foot.  As  we  crossed  the  threshold  of 
the  door,  I  was  expecting  the  next  moment  to  help  the 
two  ladies  making  our  party  into  the  carriage;  but  I  saw 
no  carriage  ;  and  when  I  asked  where  was  the  carriage  ?  I 
got  for  a  reply,  '  We  are  going  on  foot,  of  course.'  And 
so  we  walked  all  the  way  there,  and  rambled  all  the  day 
long  over  the  beautiful  forest,  and  at  night  walked  back 


364  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

to  '  The  Elms.'  I  kept  looking  at  the  ladies  while  we 
were  returning,  expecting  to  see  them  faint  away  ;  and 
finally,  I  ventured  very  quietly  to  ask  one  of  them,  '  Are 
you  not  very  tired  ? '  I  got  for  a  reply  a  merry  ringing 
laugh  and  a  '  To  be  sure  not ;  I  could  walk  half  a  dozen 
miles  farther  yet ! '  When  I  got  home  I  was  so  fatigued 
as  to  be  unable  to  stand  without  great  pain  and  trouble, 
and  was  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  the  English  ladies 
were  my  superiors  in  physical  powers  of  endurance.  I 
saw  at  once  the  secret  of  their  glorious  health,  their  buoy- 
ancy and  flow  of  spirits.  It  was  their  habits  of  exercise 
out  of  doors. 

"  I  was  once  conversing  with  an  English  lady  who  was 
near  eighty  years  old — the  mother  of  a  distinguished 
writer — upon  this  capital  habit  of  walking  which  the  ladies 
of  England  have,  when  she  broke  forth  with,  '  When  I 
was  a  young  woman,  and  in  the  country,  I  used  to  walk 
ten  miles  to  church  on  a  Sunday  morning,  and  back  again 
after  service.' 

WOMAN   IN   THE    GARDEN. 

"  Another  cause  of  the  brilliant  health  of  English  women 
is  their  natural  love  of  horticulture.  An  English  lady  is 
at  home  in  her  garden,  among  the  flowers,  and  I  know  of 
no  more  beautiful  sight  in  the  world  than  that  of  a  fair, 
open-browed,  rosy-cheeked  woman  among  a  garden  full  of 
flowers.  Talk  of  your  merry  creatures  in  hot  drawing- 
rooms,  'by  the  light  of  the  chandeliers,'  to  the  marines! 
Here  is  beauty  from  God's  own  hand  and  nature's ;  here 
are  human  flowers  and  those  of  nature  blooming  together." 

EFFECTS    OF    CLIMATE. 

Our  American  climate,  we  are  aware,  is  drier  and  hotter 
than  that  of  England,  and  much  more  conducive  to  mental 
activity  and  nervous  excitement,  and,  as  a  consequence, 


HABITS  or  QUEEN  VICTOKIA.  365 

somewhat  less  favorable  to  the  expansion  and  health  of 
the  physical  organization  ;  but  there  is  ten  times  more  dif- 
ference in  our  actual  condition,  in  these  respects,  than  the 
difference  of  climate  will  account  for.  Our  men,  descend- 
ants of  the  English  only  three  or  four  generations  back, 
have  relatively  more  bone,  and  drier  and  harder  muscle, 
more  sprightliness  of  mind  and  activity  of  body,  and  in 
advanced  life  have  less  of  that  corporeal  roundness  and 
youthfulness  of  appearance  than  are  seen  in  the  English ; 
but  the  difference  is  by  no  means  so  great  between  the 
men  of  the  mother  country  and  this  as  that  existing  be- 
tween the  women.  As  we  are  largely  descended  from 
British  and  German  ancestry,  we  ought,  at  least,  to  inherit 
in  some  good  degree  the  health  and  robustness  of  constitu- 
tion so  pre-eminently  belonging  to  those  nations. 

To  this  statement  it  may  be  responded,  that  many  of 
the  English,  Irish,  and  German  women  work  in  the  fields 
like  the  men,  and  that  their  robustness  and  endurance 
thus  acquired  is  but  a  species  of  masculine  coarseness  in- 
compatible with  intellectual  culture  and  refinement  of 
feeling  which  no  woman  in  America  should  be  expected  to 
imitate  even  for  so  great  a  boon  as  health.  If  this  were 
the  only  means  of  acquiring  or  of  developing  and  retaining 
the  native  health  and  vigor  of  woman,  we  might,  perhaps, 
justly  claim  that  so  valuable  an  acquisition  is  richly  worth 
the  cost.  But  while  we  aver  that  this  particular  course  is 
not  the  only  one  open  by  which  women  may  acquire 
bodily  health  and  vigor;  that  other  more  ladylike,  yet 
useful,  occupations  are  open  to  all,  and  equally  valuable 
as  o fleeting  health,  we  beg  to  cite  the  health  and  vigor  of 
the  British  Queen,  which  was  not  obtained  by  labor  in  the 
harvest  field.  Her  health  has  been  the  subject  of  care, 
not  of  the  hot-house  order,  but  on  horseback,  galloping 
over  the  fields,  or  walking  for  hours,  and  by  calisthenics 
and  other  equally  appropriate  means.  Her  large  and 


366  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

healthy  family  is  an  evidence  that  her  full  cheeks,  rounded 
arm,  and  plumpness  of  figure  are  not  counterfeit  indices  of 
constitution  and  well-preserved  vital  power.  True,  she 
has  the  wealth  of  the  British  empire  to  procure  for  her  the 
leisure  and  the  means  for  such  exercises  and  regimen, 
together  with  the  wisdom  of  the  most  talented  and  learned 
physicians  to  prescribe  and  direct  them.  The  expenditure 
of  such  wealth  and  wisdom,  with  such  valuable  results, 
should  not  be  lost  as  an  example  to  our  countrywomen 
who  have  wealth,  and  who  ought  to  value  their  lives 
enough  to  sacrifice  as  much  time,  money,  and  effort  to 
preserve  their  health  and  happiness  as  they  now  do  to  en- 
dure sickness,  pay  physicians,  and  be  miserable. 

THE    GREAT   MIDDLE    CLASS. 

If  the  wealthy  will  not  be  wise,  and  for  the  sake  of 
health  rise  above  their  repugnance  to  perform  any  exer- 
cises that  seem  like  work,  we  may  appeal  to  the  great 
middle  class,  for  it  is  this  large  class  that  makes  up  the 
majority  of  society  and  sways  the  destiny  of  mankind  in 
America.  To  these  we  say,  useful  and  pleasurable  ex- 
ercise, indoor  and  in  the  open  air,  is  within  your  reach. 
The  modern  light  gymnastics  can  be  introduced  into  pub- 
lic schools,  female  seminaries,  and  families.  Moreover, 
you  pay  strong  and  healthy  servants — and  they  are  healthy 
and  strong  because  they  work — to  do  all  your  household 
duties  that  have  in  them  any  health-invigorating  labor, 
while  you  daintily  creep  about  and  dust  parlor  trinkets 
with  gloves  on,  attend  to  birds  or  a  few  house-plants,  or 
confine  yourselves  to  needlework  or  other  sedentary  occu- 
pations. When  you  go  abroad,  as  an  apology  for  exercise, 
it  is  with  thin  shoes,  with  some  parts  of  the  person  over- 
clad  and  other  parts  exposed ;  and  such  walking  is  so  de- 
mure, restrained,  and  artificial  as  to  serve  no  valuable 
purpose  as  a  means  of  healthful  exercise  and  development. 


SEDENTARY  AND  LABORIOUS  PERSONS.     367 

Do  you  reside  in  the  country,  or  in  a  rural  city,  where  you 
can  have  a  garden  ?  let  your  own  hands  cultivate  it  in  the 
main.  In  the  house, 'divide  between  yourselves  and  your 
servants  the  health-giving  effort  required  to  wash,  iron, 
sweep,  etc.,  that  you  may  share  with  your  servants  their 
health,  and  also  divide  with  them  the  drudgery  of  needle- 
work, that  you  may  escape  the  debilitating  effects  of  con- 
stant application  to  sedentary  pursuits. 

The  luxury  of  rest  and  leisure  is  rarely  or  never  known 
to  persons  wholly  devoted  to  light  and  sedentary  occupa- 
tions. The  toiler,  when  he  becomes  wearied  with  labor, 
would  gladly  exchange  it  for  one  hour's  rest  at  the  tailor's 
or  watchmaker's  work,  constant  application  to  which  is 
sending  them  to  untimely  graves ;  and  the  latter,  by  en- 
gaging for  several  hours  each  day  in  some  manly  avoca- 
tion, like  working  in  a  garden  or  sawing  wood,  could 
return  to  his  sedentary  pursuit  as  a  pastime.  Will  not 
the  same  law  apply  with  equal  force  to  woman's  domestic 
sphere  ? 

EARLY    HABITS    OF    GIRLS. 

In  childhood  and  youth,  girls  appear  to  oe  as  healthy, 
hardy,  and  capable  of  enduring  fatigue  as  boys,  because 
nature  has  kindly  endowed  them  with  equal  constitutional 
power  to  perform  the  duties  of  life.  Then  they  run  and 
romp  in  the  open  air,  and  thus  secure  health  by  obeying 
the  promptings  of  unsophisticated  nature.  Yet  when 
these  children  are  matured,  the  men  are  much  more  healthy 
than  the  women.  Take  the  families  of  the  merchants  and 
business  men — not  the  purse-proud  nabob  on  the  one  hand, 
nor  the  mere  delver  on  the  other — and  how  stands  the 
matter  ?  The  men  are  active,  industrious,  accustomed  to 
a  good  degree  of  bodily  exertion  ;  they  are  busy  with  bales 
and  boxes,  among  draymen  and  porters;  they  are  driving 
about  the  streets  and  wharves,  managing  their  affairs, 
their  minds  as  well  as  their  bodies  being  fully  employed 


368  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

all  day,  and  they  go  home  with  a  keen  and  well-earned 
appetite ;  while  their  wives  and  daughters,  standing  of 
course  on  the  same  platform  of  respectability,  have  dragged 
through  the  wearisome  hours  of  the  clay  in  listless  idleness 
or  sedentary  pursuits,  and  they  approach  the  table  without 
an  appetite,  spurning  the  repast  which  other  hands  have 
prepared,  and  in  answer  to  inquiries  as  to  their  health, 
they  fill  their  anxious  husband's  or  father's  ears  with  com- 
plaints of  a  thousand  ills,  to  obviate  which  large  doctors' 
bills  and  expensive  trips  to  watering-places  are  incurred, 
but  with  little  permanent  benefit.  Poor  creatures !  they 
have  not  been  properly  educated.  Many  masters  have 
been  employed  to  educate  the  mind,  but  the  culture  of  the 
body  has  been  considered  of  little  moment,  and  it  has 
therefore  been  neglected. 

FASHION   FORBIDS   FEMALE    EXERTION. 

Fashion  would  toss  its  brainless  head  and  pout  its  con- 
temptuous lips  at  the  ide,a  of  useful  toil  for  the  wife  and 
daughters  of  a  wealthy  merchant  or  manufacturer;  but 
that  same  fickle  goddess  has  not  the  slightest  objection  to 
the  father  and  the  son  going  into  the  store  or  manufactory 
and  laboring  all  day  earnestly  among  goods  or  machinery, 
which  for  them  is  all  very  well  and  quite  respectable ;  but 
she  denies  to  the  daughter  any  part  in  household  affairs, 
because  it  is  vulgar  and  disreputable  for  a  lady  to  work, 
and  consigns  her  to  the  practice  of  music,  drawing,  and 
ornamental  needlework,  and  they  are  dying  for  lack  of 
something  to  do,  and  they  don't  know  it.  What  matters 
it  if  the  &m's  hands  be  hard,  his  chest  and  muscles  brawny, 
his  face  browned  by  the  sun  and  wind,  and  with  these 
firm  health  ?  but  the  daughter  must  be  slim,  fragile,  pale, 
and  delicate,  with  small,  soft,  white  hands  to  be  worthy 
to  rank  with  the  sons  of  merchants  who  are  every  day 
employed  just  like  her  brother,  and  with  like  results. 


GIELS— THEIR  MENTAL  CULTURE.         369 

Women  are  as  good  as  men — Nature  has  not  said  they  are 
better — and  they  have  a  right  to  all  the  advantages  which 
good  health  affords,  and  to  all  the  means  for  obtaining  it 
in  a  natural  way.  If  work  is  the  parent  of  health,  that 
fashion  which  would  deprive  her  of  it  is  a  curse. 

But  our  patience  wanes  in  the  examination  of  the  many 
errors  of  female  education  as  it  relates  to  the  body,  and 
we  now  turn  to  consider  her  mental  training. 


MENTAL    CULTURE    OF    GIRLS. 

As  the  action  of  the  mind  depends  upon  a  healthy  con- 
dition of  the  brain,  and  that  upon  a  sound  and  vigorous 
body,  it  follows  that  too  much  care  and  thought  can  not 
be  bestowed  upon  the  health  of  girls  who  are  to  become 
the  mothers  and  teachers  of  the  next  generation.  The 
old  maxim,  "  A  sound  mind  in  a  healthy  body,"  is  remem- 
bered by  nearly  everybody ;  but  people  do  not  seem  to 
appreciate  the  fact  that  health  and  vigor  of  body  are  as 
necessary  to  mental  clearness  and  vigor  as  the  framework 
of  the  steamer,  writh  its  boiler  and  fuel,  are  necessary  to 
the  engine,  which  is  the  life  and  soul  of  the  powerful 
steamer  which  proudly  plows  the  sea.  The  engine  can 
not  make  a  single  revolution  or  serve  any  valuable  purpose 
without  a  frame  to  sustain  it,  and  steam  to  impart  propul- 
sion. Neither  can  the  mind  in  the  present  life  evince  its 
capabilities  without  bodily  health  and  strength.  If  we 
cast  a  glance  over  the  catalogue  of  our  mental  giants,  our 
leading  speakers  and  thinkers,  in  the  pulpit,  senate,  and 
lecture-room,  we  will  find  them,  every  one,  having  a  vigor- 
ous body  as  well  as  a  vigorous  mind.  Men  can  think  with 
a  comparatively  slender  constitution,  but  they  can  not  as 
speakers  and  actors  move  mankind  and  electrify  the  world. 
He  who  would  do  more  for  the  world  than  merely  to  exert 
an  occasional  gleam  of  genius,  should  lay  the  strong  and 

16* 


370  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

deep  foundation  of  his  power  in  a  sound,  well-trained  body, 
then  he  will  have  the  vital  force  requisite  to  sustain  the 
mind  in  long  and  vigorous  action,  and  realize  the  hopes 
himself  and  friends  cherished  in  the  development  of  his 
mental  nature.  If  this  be  true  of  man,  with  how  much 
more  force  can  the  principle  be  applied  to  the  education 
of  woman,  whose  habits,  we  regret  to  say,  have  been  more 
widely  warped  by  fashion  and  false  custom  in  respect  to 
health  and  education  than  have  those  of  the  other  sex ! 

Many  boys  smoke,  drink,  frolic,  and  in  many  ways  dissi- 
pate, but  there  is  in  their  broad  exercises,  their  untram- 
meled  liberty,  something  which  partly  counteracts  the 
evil  influences  of  their  bad  habits.  On  the  whole,  men  are 
more  healthy  than  women. 

In  regard  to  the  mental  education  of  girls,  we  remark 
first,  that,  as  the  continued  education  of  the  body  is  neces- 
sary, the  mind  should  be  educated  in  such  a  manner  and 
with  such  speed  only  as  shall  comport  with  health.  The 
feminine  temperament  is  usually  more  active  and  the  mind 
more  susceptible  than  those  of  the  male.  Secondly,  girls 
usually  learn  faster,  become  excited  by  the  praise  bestowed 
upon  their  excellence  in  scholarship ;  hence  the  extra  exer- 
tion of  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  and  the  extra  seden- 
tary habit  which  still  closer  application  to  study  involves, 
shatter  their  constitutions  at  a  very  early  age.  Your  fat, 
awkward,  red-faced  girl,  who  loves  the  bracing  breezes, 
enjoys  fun  and  frolic,  and  likes  to  sport  in  the  open  air  more 
than  she  likes  books,  is  not  likely  to  be  injured  by  the 
above  influences.  If  she  be  rightly  trained,  her  mind  will 
ripen  at  sixteen,  and  at  twenty  she  will  be  a  good  scholar. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  little,  delicate,  susceptible  girl, 
with  thin,  sharp  features,  expanded  forehead,  large,  intelli- 
gent eyes,  with  a  strong  endowment  of  the  love  of  appro- 
bation, is  the  very  one  to  be  driven  by  praise  and  encour- 
agement almost  to  madness  in  mental  activity.  She  bends 


GIRLS — THEIR  MENTAL  CULTURE.         371 

soul  and  body  over  her  books,  becomes  a  prodigy  in  edu- 
cation, and  her  friends,  misguided  teacher,  and  all,  lavish 
praises  on  her  educational  superiority,  which  serves  still 
more  to  inflame  her  brain  and  add  fuel  to  that  fire  which 
is  consuming  her  vitality  and  preparing  her  for  the  tomb. 
Not  in  school  only  does  she  struggle  in  the  mental  path- 
way, but  she  is  not  only  permitted  but  encouraged  to  take 
her  books  home,  to  con  her  lessons  late  and  early ;  or  if 
she  be  permitted  a  moment's  respite  from  her  books,  it  is 
to  be  shown  up  in  company  as  an  intellectual  pet,  to  listen 
to  adulations  of  her  great  achievements  and  her  mental 
brilliancy.  Such  gifted  hot-house  plants  are  regarded  as 
the  special  favorites  of  Heaven,  and  is  it  strange,  therefore, 
that  the  maxim  has  found  believers,  "that  those  whom  the 
gods  love  die  young."  We  need  not  say  that  such  chil- 
dren should  be  held  back  in  mental  exercise,  nor  that  they 
are  the  very  ones  who  are  always  crowded  on,  by  approval 
and  encouragement  at  least,  if  not  by  direct  requirement. 
They  will  crowd  themselves,  if  it  be  not  done  by  parent 
and  teacher.  The  proper  course  is  to  check  their  mental 
and  physical  activity. 

This  we  are  aware  is  a  picture  of  one  class  of  constitu- 
tions, but  it  unfortunately  is  a  very  large  class,  and  one 
that  we  are  particularly  anxious  to  save  from  the  errors 
of  education,  to  save  from  derangement  of  constitution 
and  from  the  grave.  In  nine  cases  in  ten  of  precocious, 
nervous,  mental  development  this  can  be  done  if  we  edu- 
cate their  bodies  first,  and  continually,  and  their  minds 
secondarily,  as  they  can  bear  it.  We  might  then  see  genius 
enthroned  on  a  solid  and  enduring  basis,  to  bless  the  world 
with  its  lu  at  and  light  to  a  ripe  old  age.  What  a  sad  fact 
it  is  that  the  brightest  and  best  of  our  girls  must  be 
blighted  and  sent  to  early  graves  by  misguided  education  ! 

Dr.  Dio  Lewis  deserves  the  gratitude  of  mothers,  and 
of  the  race  at  large,  for  his  invention  of  the  light  gym- 


372  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

nasties  for  schools  and  families.  By  their  use,  thin  young 
girls  and  boys  are  built  up  in  vigor,  are  trained  in  bodily 
power  while  their  minds  are  being  educated.  Acad- 
emies for  girls  and  boys  with  these  light  gymnastics  as  a 
part  of  each  day's  business,  are  springing  up  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  One  of  the  most  successful  and  one 
of  the  earliest  of  these  schools  is  the  Adelphi  Academy, 
in  Brooklyn,  N".  Y.  We  have  watched  this  school  closely 
for  years,  and  marked  the  build  and  vigor  which  those  ex- 
ercises have  developed  in  the  pupils,  both  male  and  female. 

Another  error  in  the  education  of  girls  originates  in  the 
false  notion  that  she  is  to  become  a  mere  decoration  of 
society,  and  therefore  should  be  cultivated  in  the  showy 
and  esthetic  part  of  her  mind,  while  the  more  solid,  com- 
mon-sense elements  are  left  undeveloped.  Elegant  accom- 
plishments that  glitter  and  dazzle  are  placed  in  the  fore- 
ground of  the  culture  of  girls,  as  if  their  only  errand  in 
life  were  to  be  placed  in  a  social  conservatory,  as  we  place 
a  rare  flower,  to  bloom  in  the  soft  atmosphere  of  perpet- 
ual admiration.  Hence  drawing,  painting,  dancing,  French, 
music,  botany,  ornamental  needlework,  dress,  and  the  use- 
less round  of  ladyism,  constitute  the  bulk  of  what  is  popu- 
larly considered  a  finished  female  education. 

Do  girls  lack  reasoning  power  ?  If  so,  then  give  them 
no  scientific  study  that  demands  it.  Are  their  minds  made 
up  entirely  of  the  literary  faculties,  with  Ideality,  Imita- 
tion, Approbativeness,  and  the  social  qualities?  If  so, 
give  them  a  fashionable  education,  and  yo-u  will  call  those 
faculties  into  activity,  and  almost  no  other.  Indeed,  girls 
will  be  but  half  developed  in  character  and  talent,  and 
that  half  which  makes  them  weak,  helpless,  and  depend- 
ent ;  tinsel  ornaments  rather  than  calm,  earnest,  common- 
sense  companions,  counselors,  and  helpmeets  for  man. 

As  woman  is  now  educated,  she  is  taught  to  be  a  crea- 
ture of  impulse  and  sympathy,  an  elegant  toy.  Woman 


GIRLS— THEIR  MENTAL  CULTURE.         373 

has  reasoning  power,  perhaps  not  so  great  as  that  of  man, 
and  this  may  be  owing  to  the  fact  that  its  culture  has  been 
neglected.  We  do  not  see  why  she  should  not  be  endowed 
with  sound,  consecutive,  reasoning  power;  for  if  any  being 
on  earth  needs  wisdom,  judgment,  reflection,  and  a  well- 
disciplined  intellect,  combined  with  strong  affection  and 
elegant  refinement  of  taste  and  feeling,  it  is  she  who  is  to 
mold  the  character  of  the  family  which  is  to  control  the 
church,  the  state,  and  the  business  world  in  the  next  gen- 
eration. 

Let  girls  be  taught  chemistry,  for  who  more  than  those 
who  compound  the  food  of  the  world  need  it  ?  Let  them 
study  physiology;  for  they  have  the  charge  of  the  cloth- 
ing, feeding,  and  health  of  the  world.  Those  who  have 
the  care  of  the  ventilation,  the  warming  and  regimen  of 
our  homes,  can  not  be  too  well  versed  in  those  sciences 
which  alone  can  furnish  the  bride  with  just  qualifications 
for  these  important  duties  and  responsibilities.  We  are 
aware  that  thirty  years'  experience  will  teach  many  of  the 
lessons  of  domestic  economy,  but  we  would  have  all 
science,  bearing  on  every-day  life,  taught  to  girls,  so  that 
when  they  launch  forth  for  themselves  on  the  sea  of  life 
they  may  have  the  chart  and  compass  of  a  correct  educa- 
tion to  guide  their  course  from  tho  start,  to  a  successful  life 
voyage  ?  Why  should  a  woman  be  a  lifetime  learning  the 
laws  that  govern  health,  and  only  learn  by  sad  experience 
how  to  conduct  the  physical  and  moral  management  of 
the  young,  when  she  has  grandchildren  to  exercise  that 
knowledge  upon?  Knowledge  is  better  late  than  never  in 
coming,  but  we  would  not  have  it  deferred  until  a  gene- 
ration of  mental  and  physical  constitutions  are  ruined,  and 
half  a  generation  are  made  tenants  of  short  graves. 

Let  girls  be  instructed  in  arithmetic,  mathematics,  and 
natural  philosophy,  book-keeping,  domestic  economy, 
physiology,  and  history,,  with  logic  and  metaphysics,  for 


374  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

who  more  than  a  mother  needs  all  the  stores  of  solid  learn- 
ing and  thought  to  manage  a  family  and  fill  her  station  in 
society  with  wisdom  and  dignity  ?  Give  her  these,  for  she 
has  talent  to  appreciate  and  use  them;  her  true  sphere 
demands  their  exercise,  and  she  will  cease  to  be  deemed  a 
frivolous,  fitful,  useless  butterfly.  It  is  a  wonder  that  her 
education  has  not  spoiled  her.  If  she  were  not  the  better 
half  of  creation,  she  could  not  have  endured  so  much  bad 
management,  and  still  be  deemed  worthy  of  adoration  by 
the  other  half. 

We  rejoice  that  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century 
female  education  has  received  new  attention,  and  made 
vast  progress.  The  first  woman  who  took  the  degrees  of  a 
college  was  looked  upon  but  a  few  years  ago  with  wonder. 
Now,  colleges  for  women  are  dotting  the  land,  and  the 
strength  of  their  influence  is  being  felt ;  and  we  rejoice  in 
the  thought  that  educated  women  are  hereafter  to  be  com- 
panions of  educated  men,  and  the  mothers  of  generations 
yet  to  be.  As  colleges  and  seminaries  of  learning  mul- 
tiply, common  schools  will  be  raised  to  a  higher  grade, 
until  the  great  mass  of  girls  and  boys  shall  hereafter  have 
opportunity  for  an  education  nearly  equal  to  that  of  a  col- 
lege half  a  century  ago. 

HABIT,    A    LAW    OF    MIND. 

Man  is  not  unfitly  called  a  creature  of  habit.  So  true 
is  this,  that  perhaps  more  than  half  of  all  that  he  does  is 
performed  under  the  influence  of  custom  or  habit. 

But  what  is  habit  ?  It  is  the  doing  of  certain  things, 
first  by  determination  or  thought,  until  the  doing  becomes 
so  common,  so  much  a  matter  of  course,  that  it  is  done 
without  a  special  thinking  or  resolution  to  do.  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  training  of  the  faculties,  by  use,  to  such  a 
degree  of  perfection  in  action  that  their  labor  is  performed 


HABIT,  A  LAW  or  MIND.  375 

automatically,  or  without  an  intellectual  determination  to 
do  this  or  that.  Habit  is  the  result  of  training  and  expe- 
rience, and  appertains,  not  to  muscular  action  only,  but  to 
the  action  of  the  mind  as  well. 

If  we  go  down  to  infancy,  we  find  the  child  making 
a  strenuous  effort  to  get  his  hand  to  his  mouth.  He  has 
strength  enough  to  do  it ;  he  has  an  intellectual  compre- 
hension of  what  he  desires  to  do,  and  he  puts  forth  the 
effort.  But  at  first  the  hand  hits  wide  of  the  mark ;  when 
the  effort  is  renewed,  the  hand  goes  as  much  to  the  other 
side.  And  we  have  seen  the  little  fellow  become  angry 
because  he  could  not  readily  accomplish  his  object.  But 
this  lesson  he  is  not  long  in  learning,  for  the  little  fel- 
low, long  before  he  needs  pantaloons,  is  able  to  find  his 
mouth  readily  with  spoon  or  fork;  and  so  habitual  has 
this  action  become,  that  with  fingers  or  spoon,  fork  or 
long  knife,  he  has  no  trouble  in  measuring  the  distance  to 
his  mouth  correctly ;  and  what  is  more,  not  only  is  the 
hand  trained  to  measure  the  distance  correctly,  but  the 
mouth  itself  has  acquired  the  habit  of  opening  at  the 
right  time,  and  we  never  hear  of  his  pricking  his  lips  with 
his  fork  because  they  fail  to  open  in  season;  and  if  the 
process  be  watched,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mouth  loses 
no  time  in  opening  itself  too  soon.  So  the  eye  learns  to 
shut  itself,  as  it  were,  when  objects  of  danger  approach  it ; 
and  though  this  may  be  regarded  as  a  mere  instinct,  it  is 
nevertheless  learned  by  experience,  and  by  practice  it  ac- 
quires the  force  of  habit. 

Behold,  also,  the  little  stranger  to  life's  cares  and  labors 
undergoing  the  tedious  apprenticeship  of  walking.  He 
must  first  arrange  himself  on  his  center  of  gravity — must 
learn  to  stand.  When  this  is  accomplished,  the  mind  re- 
solves on  taking  a  step ;  decides  which  foot  shall  take  the 
lead ;  and  when  that  is  placed  at  a  convenient  distance 
from  the  other,  then  a  muscular  effort  is  necessary  to 


876  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

throw  the  weight  of  body  upon  the  advancing  foot.  The 
mind  takes  cognizance  of  this  necessity,  and  then  as  much 
as  says,  "  Now,  muscles  of  the  left  leg,  make  an  effort  to 
throw  the  body  forward,  and,  muscles  of  the  right  leg, 
brace  to  sustain  this  weight  now  for  the  first  time  wholly 
imposed  on  you."  So  these  mandates  are  sent  out  from 
the  mind  to  each  leg  in  turn,  and  they  render  obedience 
in  turn,  to  the  best  of  their  ability ;  and  if  the  little  learner 
succeeds  in  working  his  machinery  successfully  the  first  or 
even  the  fortieth  time  of  trying,  the  fond  mother  regards  it 
as  a  feat  worth  rejoicing  over  and  recording.  The  whole 
household  and  all  the  visitors  are  informed  that  little 
Charlie  has  learned  the  difficult  process  of  walking.  In 
the  lapse  of  time  he  becomes  accustomed  to  the  control  of 
the  muscles ;  learns  how  much  force  to  apply  to  each,  and 
also  the  order  of  time  and  succession  required  for  these 
operations,  so  that  in  a  few  months,  even,  he  walks  as  men 
do,  without  thinking.  In  other  words,  the  mind,  uncon- 
sciously to  itself — or  at  least  unconsciously  to  the  memory 
— learns  to  control  all  the  muscular  motions  employed  in 
plain  walking,  so  that  he  is  not  aware  that  he  thinks  and 
resolves.  But  when  the  child  goes  away  from  the  level 
nursery  floor,  and  is  required  to  go  down  stairs,  or  to 
ascend  steps,  then  he  has  to  learn  new  lessons  of  muscular 
action  and  effort,  and  a  new  application  of  the  law  of  bal- 
ance. But  this  is  ultimately  mastered,  and  he  goes  up 
and  down  stairs  like  an  old  settler.  And  when  he  goes 
into  the  street  and  finds  an  uneven  surface,  or  roams  a 
field  where  no  two  steps  in  succession  find  the  same  level, 
he  has  a  new  lesson  of  walking  to  learn,  using,  of  course, 
the  rudiments  of  all  the  former  processes,  but  obliged  to 
apply  new  rules  of  effort,  resistance,  and  balance  at  every 
step.  Ultimately,  at  twelve  or  twenty  years  of  age,  the 
lad  has  mastered  nearly  all  the  lessons  of  ordinary  loco- 
motion ;  he  has  learned  how  to  walk ;  and  habit  has  taken 


HABIT,  A  LAW  OF  MIND.  877 

the  place  of  thought  or  determination  in  the  matter.  But 
this  habit  is  continually  liable  to  be  disturbed,  broken  in 
upon.  New  lessons  are  thrust  upon  him,  according  to  new 
circumstances.  But  in  the  main,  the  habit  of  walking 
erectly  and  easily  becomes  so  perfect  that  thinking  dis- 
turbs rather  than  helps  the  process.  Hence  habit  will  en- 
able a  person  to  walk  without  trouble  on  the  narrowest 
board  of  the  floor  with  perfect  ease,  and  without  the 
slightest  inclination  to  step  off  from  it.  But  if  we  take 
away  all  the  boards  each  side  of  it,  and  leave  the  yawning 
chasm  of  three  stories  below,  the  mind,  acted  upon 
through  Cautiousness,  leads  him  to  put  forth  circumspect 
efforts  so  as  not  to  fall,  and  he  finds  he  can  not  balance 
half  so  well  when  he  tries  as  when  he  does  not  try — or  that 
habit  is  a  better  guide  than  thought  or  determination. 

When  we  rise  to  the  consideration  of  the  higher  forms 
of  habit,  a  vast  field  of  contemplation  is  opened  to  our 
view.  Take,  for  instance,  the  educational  processes.  It  is 
with  more  or  less  effort  that  we  learn  the  multiplication 
table,  and  how  to  divide,  subtract,  and  perform  arithmeti- 
cal calculations.  But  practice  makes  the  processes  easy  ; 
habit  finally  takes  the  place  of  special  thinking,  and  we 
run  up  a  column  of  figures,  and  some  persons  can  even 
two  or  three  columns,  with  about  the  same  ease,  and  with 
as  little  apparent  labor  of  the  mind,  as  one  walks.  The 
same  is  true  of  spelling.  Crude  and  inconsistent  as  Eng- 
lish orthography  is,  the  mind  has  such  a  wonderful  faculty 
of  acquiring  a  habit  of  doing  things,  that  many  people 
Karn  to  spell,  so  that,  in  writing,  the  pen  takes  the  circu- 
itous and  inconsistent  course  in  combining  the  letters 
which  spell  words,  and  for  hours  we  are  not  conscious  of 
the  slightest  effort  of  the  thinking  power  in  the  perform- 
ance of  spelling,  which  early  in  life  was  a  most  bitter  task. 

Again,  when  the  child  begins  to  write,  he  must  think 
how  each  letter  is  to  be  formed,  and  control  his  muscles 


378  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

in  forming  those  letters,  as  he  was  obliged  to  do  in  learn- 
ing to  walk.  Who  does  not  remember  stopping  to  think 
how  £,  &,  r,  #,  <?,  or  h  were  to  be  made,  and  saying  to  him- 
self, "  Now  I  must  make  a  loop  at  the  top  by  a  light  up- 
ward stroke,  bringing  my  pen  down  nearly  straight,  bear- 
ing on  as  it  descends  ?  As  I  approach  the  line,  I  must 
make  a  curve  and  an  upward  hair  line."  And  then  join- 
ing that  letter  with,  and  running  it  into  the  next,  was  a 
new  effort  of  the  mind  and  of  the  muscles.  And  so  on  to 
the  end  of  the  long,  tedious  writing-lesson.  At  the  same 
time  he  is  obliged  to  learn  which  side  up  to  hold  his  pen ; 
how  to  take  hold  of  it ;  how  to  dip  it  in  the  ink  without 
blacking  his  fingers,  blotting  his  paper,  etc.  And  is  it 
strange  that  the  school-boy's  first  copy-book  should  make 
such  a  sorry  appearance  ?  And  should  not  these  consid- 
erations induce  teachers  to  be  considerate  of  the  poor  little 
apprentice,  and  even  praise  him  for  successes  which  at  first 
view  would  seem  to  a  practiced  penman  as  being  miserable 
failures  ?  But  let  the  boy  write  a  few  hours  a  day  for  a 
few  years,  and  he  wields  "the  pen  of  a  ready  writer."  In 
other  words,  he  has  learned  to  hold  his  pen ;  to  dip  it  in 
the  ink  ;  to  form  all  the  letters,  joining  them  properly;  to 
spell  the  words  as  he  writes,  and  to  drive  his  pen  over  the 
paper  with  an  ease  and  rapidity  truly  astonishing,  compar- 
ed with  his  first  rude  beginning.  He  has  learned  a  habit 
of  spelling,  of  controlling  the  muscles  which  guide  the  pen, 
so  that  it  is  easier  to  do  it  right  than  wrong.  He  writes  as 
easily  as  he  walks ;  habit  has  taken  the  place  of  thinking, 
and  it  has  become  to  him,  as  it  were,  "  a  second  nature." 

What  is  true  of  writing  is  quite  as  true  of  every  trade 
or  occupation  which  people  follow.  The  carpenter  wields 
his  plane,  his  saw,  and  his  hammer,  by  the  force  of  habit, 
with  accuracy  and  ease.  The  beginner  thinks  of  his  thumb 
as.  he  is  trying  to  crack  a  nut  or  drive  a  nail ;  or  if  he  do 
not,  he  has  soon  something  to  remind  him  that  the  hammer 


HABIT,  A  LAW  OF  MIKD.  379 

is  harder  than  his  fingers.  But  what  accomplished  work- 
man thinks  of  fingers  ?  The  hammer  finds  its  own  way  to 
the  head  of  the  nail.  What  stone-cutter,  with  mallet  and 
chisel — what  caulker,  ever  looks  to  see  whether  the  mal- 
let or  hammer  is  to  hit  the  handle  of  the  tool  he  uses  ? 
He  merely  looks  at  the  cutting  edge  of  the  instrument. 
The  right  hand  knows  where  to  find  the  chisel-head ;  it 
knoweth  literally  "  what  the  left  hand  doeth."  But  a  per- 
son who  has  formed  no  habit  of  controlling  the  muscles  in 
connection  with  tool-using,  will  be  obliged  to  look  and 
practice  with  care,  in  order  to  bring  the  hammer  and  the 
chisel-handle  in  contact.  In  other  words,  he  learns  to  use 
these  tools  by  special  thinking,  as  he  at  first  learned  to 'use 
his  legs,  or  to  find  his  mouth  with  spoon  or  fork. 

The  use  of  language  is  another  illustration  of  habit. 
When  one  first  begins  to  speak,  he  is  obliged  to  select  his 
words  and  think  of  his  grammar.  But  the  mind  ulti- 
mately becomes  so  trained  in  the  formation  of  sentences 
that  ideas  are  expressed  with  clearness  and  force,  the 
right  words  seeming  to  come  of  their  own  accord.  This 
is  seen  in  extemporaneous  speakers ;  those  who  practice 
acquire  the  habit  of  easy  and  correct  speaking. 

Observe  the  musician  trying  to  evoke  the  proper  tones 
from  the  reluctant  violin.  He  is  obliged  to  look  for  the 
string,  see  where  to  place  his  finger,  then  turn  to  the  bow 
and  see  that  it  is  placed  upon  the  same  string ;  and  then 
the  note  is  produced  by  another  special  effort.  After  this 
is  produced,  he  thinks  about  the  note  which  follows  it, 
where  it  must  be  found  on  the  instrument,  then  how  it  is 
to  be  produced,  and  so  on  through  the  piece.  Is  it  strange 
that  the  beginner  is  left  alone  as  much  as  possible  in  these 
incipient  music  lessons,  and  that  most  persons  who  have 
in  their  house  an  apprentice  of  this  sort  become  utterly 
tired  of  the  violin?  One  would  suppose  that  the  learner 
himself  would  become  disgusted ;  but  his  consciousness  of 


380  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

improvement  from  effort  to  effort  smooths  his  pathway, 
each  better  note  making  an  apology  for  the  past,  and  en- 
couraging him  for  a  future  effort ;  and  thus  his  mind  is 
kept  on  the  stretch  for  the  good  that  is  to  come.  The 
child  in  walking  fails,  but  he  tries  again  and  again,  and 
why  should  not  the  earnest  follower  of  Paganini  ? 

This  doctrine  of  habit,  in  its  applications  to  the  higher 
action  of  the  mind,  is  one  of  infinite  importance.  The  ex- 
ercise of  Conscientiousness  renders  justice  and  duty  habit- 
ual, as  the  exercise  of  Cautiousness  leads  the  mind  to  a 
habit  of  prudence.  The  mother  or  nurse  who  has  for 
months  had  the  care  of  an  infant,  if  it  be  removed,  will, 
for  many  nights  awake  in  alarm,  not  finding  it  in  her  arms. 
She  learns  by  habit  not  to  overlie  it,  but  to  protect  it  even 
in  her  sleep ;  and  we  have  known  a  mother  who  could  not 
sleep  after  the  removal  of  a  child  without  taking  a  pillow 
in  her  arms,  or,  without  knowing  it,  get  hold  of  the  pillow 
and  brood  it  as  she  had  done  her  child  in  her  sleep. 

Politeness,  urbanity,  kindness,  cheerfulness,  respect,  the 
dictates  of  good  taste,  all  become  habitual.  We  remem- 
ber being  in  the  United  States  Senate  Chamber  in  1841, 
when  Mr.  Woodbury,  having  been  for  years  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  and  being,  at  the  close  of  Mr.  Van  Buren's 
term,  transferred  to  the  Senate,  went  from  the  Cabinet 
on  the  3d  of  March  to  the  Senate  chamber  on  the  4th,  and 
in  his  first  speech  there  he  addressed  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  to  the  infinite  amusement  of  all  present,  with  "  My 
dear  sir,"  as  it  is  presumed  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
address  the  President  and  members  of  the  Cabinet  in 
council.  He  had  formed  the  habit  of  this  more  friendly 
method  of  address,  and  though  for  years  previously  he  had 
been  a  member  of  the  Senate,  he  had  lost  the  habit  of 
stately  speaking  during  his  four  years  of  court  life,  and  had 
learned  this  new  mode  of  address.  So  a  lawyer,  accustomed 
to  say,  "  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  may  it  please  the  Court," 


HABIT,  A  LAW  OF  MIND.  381 

in  a  popular  audience  forgets  himself  and  his  habit  of 
speaking,  and  says  to  his  audience,  "  Gentlemen  of  the 
jury."  or  to  him  who  presides,  "  May  it  please  the  Court." 

Approbativeness  may  be  trained  to  act  with  the  higher 
sentiments  —  Conscientiousness,  Veneration,  and  Benevo- 
lence— so  that  virtue,  philanthropy,  magnanimity,  and  re- 
ligion will  become  habitual,  and  a  person  feel  ashamed  and 
mortified  if  he  swerve  from  any  of  the  requirements  of 
these  higher  faculties.  Or  the  same  Approbativeness  may 
be  trained  to  act  with  appetite,  or  with  any  of  the  animal 
propensities,  so  that  it  becomes  easier,  and  to  the  mind's 
habit  more  respectable,  to  do  wrong  than  to  do  right,  to 
follow  sensuality  rather  than  morality. 

We  will  not  here  descend  to  consider  those  animal  hab- 
its, some  of  which  pervert  the  morals  and  blast  thfc  health 
and  prospects  of  the  man,  such  as  the  use  of  opium,  alco- 
holic liquors,  tobacco,  etc.  These  habits  are  mainly  based 
upon  mere  physical  appetite.  We  accustom  the  physical 
constitution  to  the  use  of  certain  things  until  it  craves 
them,  and  grasps  eagerly  for  its  own  bane.  The  nervous 
system  becomes  accustomed  to  a  given  amount  of  stimu- 
lants, which  is  resisted  at  first  by  nausea  and  other  tokens 
of  dissent ;  but  the  habit  finally  becomes  formed  so  strongly 
that  the  constitution  is  unbalanced  and  bewildered  with- 
out the  indulgence.  But  this  class  of  habits  only  serves 
to  show  the  law  of  mental  habit,  and  ought  to  suggest  to 
all  the  infinite  importance  of  doing  only  that  which  is 
right,  as  nearly  as  possible,  not  only  with  respect  to  the 
mere  animal  wants,  but  to  all  the  cravings  and  aspirations 
of  the  mind.  If  we  are  "  a  bundle  of  habits,"  let  us,  in 
the  name  of  wisdom  and  goodness,  have  habits  that  are 
correct,  healthful,  and  respectable,  and  by  doing  that 
which  is  right  until  it  becomes  habitual  and  pleasurable,  our 
whole  life  shall  become  one  of  benefaction  and  harmony. 


382  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

A    CLOSING    WORD. 

Phrenology  expounds  the  nature  of  man,  his  capabili- 
ties, moral,  social,  artistic,  mechanical,  intellectual,  and 
scientific,  as  well  as  his  capacities  for  skill,  energy,  execu- 
tiveness,  independence,  and  force  of  character.  Why, 
then,  does  it  not  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  culture,  improve- 
ment, and  knowledge?  Certainly  no  theology  is  worth 
the  ink  that  it  costs  to  explain  it,  which  does  not  meet  the 
wants  of  the  soul  by  such  an  adaptation  to  man  as  shall 
take  hold  of  all  his  sympathies,  wants,  propensities,  aspira- 
tions, and  moral  powers.  And  that  his  wants  may  be  met, 
how  important  is  it  for  those  who  teach  moral  truth,  to 
understand  the  nature  of  the  being  whom  they  teach ! 
Such  clergymen  as  are  led  to  their  profession  by  high 
and  holy  purposes,  and  have,  consequently,  a  much  better 
mental  organization  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  great  mass 
of  mankind,  are  not  able,  through  their  own  experiences 
of  life,  to  enter  into  intimate  sympathy  with  the  less  for- 
tunate of  their  race,  who  are  most  in  need  of  moral  teach- 
ing, culture,  elevation,  and  guidance.  He  who  has  not 
been  tempted  to  steal,  or  lie,  or  break  the  other  eight 
commandments,  can  have,  by  consulting  his  own  conscious- 
ness, but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  feelings,  and  weaknesses, 
and  wants  of  such  as  break  every  part  of  the  decalogue, 
almost  as  naturally  as  they  breathe.  Phrenology,  however, 
opens  up  to  the  world  a  means  of  judging  as  to  the  real 
and  relative  dispositions  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men ;  and  we  venture  the  assertion  most  confidently,  that 
Phrenology  has  done  more  within  the  last  fifty  years  to 
instruct  the  world,  teach  the  true  nature  of  mind,  and  the 
philosophy  of  its  action,  than  all  previous  study  of  that 
great  subject  put  together. 

Before  Phrenology  was  known,  there  was  no  means  of 
determining,  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  what  might  be 


A  CLOSING  WORD.  383 

the  character,  disposition,  and  talents  of  any  stranger  who 
should  be  presented.  The  child  in  its  mother's  arms  was 
looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  angelic  blank,  and  fond  affec- 
tion prophesied  all  that  was  hoped  for  in  respect  to  such 
a  human  bud  of  promise.  But  real  history  and  develop- 
ment often  dashed  all  these  fond  hopes,  and  sent  confiding 
parents  to  the  grave  with  sorrow  and  gray  hairs.  Now, 
Phrenology  anticipates  history,  as  it  views  the  infant 
asleep  on  its  mother's  bosom.  It  sees  the  embryo  selfish- 
ness, the  passions,  and  the  stubborn  elements,  and  observes 
the  weak  points,  and  suggests  the  treatment  necessary  to 
subdue  and  rightly  direct  the  unruly  feelings,  and  to  fos- 
ter and  cherish  the  weak  points,  and  how  to  make  the 
elements  of  evil,  in  the  soul,  weaker,  and  those  of  virtue 
and  religion  stronger.  That  all  persons  are  qualified  to 
make  these  nice  distinctions  and  discriminations  on  the  in- 
fantile condition,  we  do  not  claim ;  but  that  any  person 
reading  carefully  any  well-written  volume  on  the  subject, 
shall  be  able  to  block  out  the  character,  and  to  understand 
the  general  drift  of  that  which  is  to  be  the  history  of  the 
infant,  we  do  claim ;  and  this  capacity  for  fore-reading 
human  doing  and  destiny  thus  brought  to  light  by  Phre- 
nology, and  that  co-ordinate  light  thrown  on  the  true 
method  of  teaching  and  training  the  young  mind,  is  the 
great  glory  of  the  science.  This  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
morals,  of  refinement,  of  high  civilization,  and  of  religion, 
and  on  this  basis  can  a  higher  and  surer  system  of  ethics, 
character,  and  civilization  be  reared  than  on  any  other. 

Hitherto,  religion  has  served  only  to  make  the  best  of 
individuals  and  nations  barely  tolerable.  Children  reared 
to  active  manhood  by  parents,  teachers,  magistrates,  and 
clergymen,  without  any  just  knowledge  and  true  philoso- 
phy of  human  character  and  action,  have  found  their  work 
marred  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  and  the  tenth  case  but  a 
meagre  representation  of  what  nature  meant  in  the  organ- 


384  How  TO  EDUCATE. 

ization  of  the  individual ;  and  the  results  of  legislation, 
education,  and  justice  combined,  though  well  meant,  have 
resulted  in  merely  patching  up  mankind,  and  in  keeping  it 
from  becoming  utterly  brutalized. 

Some  may  be  surprised  when  we  tell  them  that  the  best 
legislators,  preachers,  and  teachers  of  to-day,  those  most 
widely  sought  after,  most  thorough  in  purpose,  most  suc- 
cessful in  effort,  are  those  whose  teachings  and  admin- 
istrations are  based  on  phrenological  science.  We  say 
based  on  Phrenology,  consciously  in  some  cases,  and  un- 
consciously in  others.  The  very  literature  of  the  day  is 
permeated  with  the  ideas  that  Phrenology  has  developed, 
and  thousands  are  taught  by  it  without  being  aware  of 
the  fact.  Mind  is  understood  in  its  various  faculties  now 
as  it  formerly  was  not.  Persons  are  now  understood  as 
being  morbid  or  insane  in  a  single  faculty,  while  they  may 
be  sound  in  others,  and  thus  a  just  judgment  is  awarded. 
Once,  to  be  insane,  was  to  be  possessed  of  the  devil,  and 
men  were  executed,  or  incarcerated  beyond  the  hope  of 
release,  and  were  treated  as  beasts,  or  worse ;  and  it  is  an 
important  fact  that  every  successful  manager  of  insane  per- 
sons in  the  United  States,  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
has  been  not  only  a  phrenologist  in  belief,  but  has  treated 
his  patients  on  phrenological  principles.  The  treatment 
of  criminals  is  better  understood  from  the  same  cause,  and 
we  would  avoid  nine-tenths  of  the  crimes  and  of  the  in- 
sanity of  the  times  by  a  wiser  and  more  thorough  culture 
of  the  race.  And  this  culture,  we  apprehend,  is  to  be  an 
outflow  of  the  more  extended  and  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  subject  we  teach.  We  would  so  plant  this  science  in 
the  experience  and  love  of  the  rising  generation,  that 
when  we  are  gathered  to  our  fathers,  thousands  of  others 
shall  stand  ready  to  push  the  cause  onward,  until  it  shall 
fill  the  whole  earth. 


v  j 


RETURN 


CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

202  Main  Library 


LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

Renewals  and  Recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  the  due  date. 

Books  may  be  Renewed  by  calling     642-3405. 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

AUTO.  DISC. 

APR  2  4  l*o* 

FORM  NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


YB 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CODbQ78M2S 


sr 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


